
Class X3_7£). 



Book 







GapghtN . 



COEHUGUT DISPOSER 




^2S. 



tjfSjATES IK 17J6 

LL \\jis"' <<!f FALKLAND I 1 | | „ 



ISLANDS 40' 



THE WORLD 

showing- the 

UNITED" STATES 

and its 

Outlying Possessions 



r Cape Horn 



Copyright, iqoo, by Rand, McNallv & Company. 




WILLIAM D. BOYCE. 



United States 

COLONIES 



AND 



DEPENDENCIES 



ILLUSTRATED 



The Travels and Investigations of a Chicago Publisher in the 

Colonial Possessions and Dependencies of the United 

States, with 600 Photographs of Interesting 

People and Scenes. 



By 

WILLIAM D. BOYCE 

PUBLISHER OF "THE SATURDAY BLADE/' "CHICAGO LEDGER, 

"THE FARMING BUSINESS/' AND THE "INDIANA 

DAILY TIMES/' 



RAND McNALLY & COMPANY 

CHICAGO NEW YORK 



Copyright, 1914 

BY 

W. D. BOYCE 



s 



JAN -2 1915 



1 

3072 



INTRODUCTION 

IN THE Story Book of our planet the white man's discov- 
ery of the grand range of country known as the American 
Continent, the planting of a free government in the United 
States, and the amazing expansion of that government, form 
one of the chapters to which thinkers and investigators are 
always turning. This is because men have found the history 
of the United States not only one of the most picturesque 
stories in the big Planet Book, but, what is better, the most 
encouraging. Had I not been sure of this latter fact, I would 
hardly have cared to publish this volume, the matter and 
photographs of which first appeared as Travel Stories in The 
Saturday Blade, one of our papers. My journeys in recent 
years to every quarter of the globe, and to all our outlying 
possessions, have confirmed my belief that the United States 
is not only the world's best country to live in, but that colonies 
or territories coming under its ownership or protection are 
more justly treated and rapidly developed than are the sim- 
ilar possessions or dependencies of any other nation. 

To show how beneficially we have treated and are treating 
our dependencies, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and 
the Republic of Panama, has been one of my objects. In a 
somewhat larger sense, because they are our own, I have 
wanted to show my readers Porto Rico and our good work 
there, also our improving and beneficial government of the 
Hawaiian Islands and, especially, the Philippines, and to pro- 
test against our impending desertion of the latter. At the 
same time, not the least of my purposes has been to show 
Alaska as it really is, and that our policy there is far from 
what it should be, also the Panama Canal Zone, our latest and 
most important and peculiar colony. 

In my book, Illustrated South America, published two years 

vii 



viii INTRODUCTION 

ago, the gathering of material for which took me to every 
republic from Panama to the Straits of Magellan, my object 
was, partly, to present interesting descriptions of countries 
with which we were little acquainted, or about which we had 
only vague and erroneous ideas, while mainly attempting to 
broaden our information relative to their commercial oppor- 
tunities and needs, and the means by which we could get into 
closer and more profitable business relations with them. To a 
degree this is true of this book, but the reader will find, I 
believe, a larger element cropping out in its pages ; that is, 
the question of our natural obligations relative to the present 
and future of our colonies and dependencies. The talk here 
is about ourselves, not regarding South Americans, and,, 
being within the family circle, is plain. 

Events march in procession and always forward ; evolution 
flows in waves, generation after generation, and also always 
forward, and to understand the present and judge of the 
future we must turn to the past. To the little band of 
patriots who, on the Fourth Day of July, 1776, gathered in 
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, and pledged their lives, their 
fortunes and their sacred honor to the new nation which 
their action produced, conception of the present greatness of 
the nation they inaugurated must have been impossible. But 
looking back, their promptings and their purposes are clear to 
us — a fierce revulsion against injustice, and a determination 
to institute a governmental organization in which the people 
themselves should rule. 

The impulse and intention were not wholly new; men 
through many centuries had dreamed of such a government, 
and more than one attempt had been made to organize the 
great idea into concrete working form. But the attempts 
had always finally failed, mainly because former republics 
necessarily admitted only a portion of the people to active 
voice in affairs of state, thus naturally producing ruling aris- 
tocracies and autocracies. The truth is that a real republic 
was never possible until education and enlightenment became 
general and a majority of the people were measurably capable 



INTRODUCTION ix 

of understanding the meaning of equality and liberty and 
acting intelligently in matters of government. 

Even in the day of the birth of our own Republic the time 
was hardly ripe, owing to much ignorance, but a basic idea not 
before employed was used in laying the foundation, and that 
was the Christian conception of the equality of all men before 
the Creator. Without much doubt this belief saved us, hold- 
ing the structure together until enlightenment became more 
general. This brings us to a vital question. A movement at 
present is under way to give up the Philippine Islands, one 
of our most important colonies, and allow the inhabitants to 
attempt to form themselves into an independent republic. 
Have they the first requisite, a religious belief that all men 
are equal, or the second and perhaps greater requisite of know- 
ing enough, as a whole people, intelligently to conduct affairs 
of state with liberty for all? My conviction, growing out of 
observation and investigation, is that they as yet have not good 
grounds for government as a republic. 

Always in dealing with our history and position in the 
world, we instinctively go back to Columbus. For us the 
procession of events begins with him. His three little ships, 
Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta, bobbing across the billows 
toward the American shores, in 1492, lead our procession. 

All know the story: From Palos, Spain, to Madeira sail 
the three tiny ships, then westward across unknown waters 
to an unknown world, striking land at San Salvador and 
awakening a new Hemisphere into life. The nucleus of the 
procession gathers, the Old World stirs with excitement ; hot on 
the trail of gold and glory and acquisitions of fresh soil sail 
the "spiritual buccaneers" of Spain; the West Indies are 
explored and colonized, white men tread the shores of South 
America ; Pope Alexander draws an imaginary line north and 
south three hundred miles west of the Azores Islands, and 
pronounces all lands west of that a part of Spain ; Balboa 
crosses the Isthmus of Panama and looks upon the Pacific, 
and hands its 70,000,000 square miles to the King of Spain ; 
Ponce de Leon, rich from pilferings as Governor of Porto 



x INTRODUCTION 

Rico, is in the South searching for waters that would keep 
men forever young, and Florida, many times its present size, 
"goes Spanish"; Ferdinand de Soto, now in 1537, is Gov- 
ernor of Cuba and Florida, and, hunting for gold with his fol- 
lowers, is in the country that is now South Carolina and 
Georgia, and, pushing onward, is the first white man to look 
upon the Mississippi River ; then the French are settling on the 
St. Lawrence, and presently Joliet and Marquette are floating 
down the Illinois River and the Mississippi, and giving a part 
of these great valleys to France ; Britain is in Virginia and 
Pennsylvania and upon the New England coast, and the Dutch 
are on Manhattan Island, which they afterward trade for 
Dutch Guiana in South America. The procession, led by 
Columbus and his three little ships, is fully under way. 

Wars follow, the French and English and Spanish battle 
with one another, and all, little by little, beat back the Red 
Man, slaying and being slain ; the grip of France relaxes, 
Spain's power dwindles, Britain rules; then Washington and 
Independence, and we cross the threshold of national life. 

Spain secretly cedes the vast Louisiana Territory to France ; 
Napoleon, in need of money, sells it to the United States, and, 
later, we divide the 600,000,000 acres into a dozen great 
States ; again we are at war with England and are victors, then 
Mexico, and Texas and California fall into our hands ; later 
we save the Northwest, and erelong North and South are 
grappling in a struggle that shakes our national structure to 
the foundation, but it stands ; then we purchase Alaska, enter 
into war with Spain, take over Porto Rico, the Philippines, 
Cuba and Hawaii, present Cuba to itself as a gift, with a 
string to it, influence Panama to revolt and become a republic, 
buy the Canal Zone and make the world's long dream of 
uniting the Atlantic and Pacific a fact, and the grand proces- 
sion is at our doors. 

It seems a journey of Destiny, the discovery and prepa- 
ration of a vast place into which human streams from all 
countries might flow and thrive, showing mankind the great, 
vital truth that if portions of all nations can here live and 



INTRODUCTION xi 

work together in peace, the nations of the earth themselves 
would live and work together in peace if given the power of 
choice and freedom from despotic rulers and ambitious mili- 
tary dictators. 

Remember that every square foot of the soil that now 
constitutes our country and its colonies once was owned or 
claimed by some foreign power. That it all finally became 
free and the home of self-governing people has been the larg- 
est and most hope-inspiring of all modern facts. From all 
parts of the earth the eyes of men have watched our progress 
with encouragement ; we are still being observed and studied ; 
in justice to ourselves and as an example to others, we can 
afford to follow but one course — the path of right. We can 
pursue but one just policy with our colonies, and that is to 
protect and hold and train them to become self-governing 
units of our great self-governing nation, finding strength in 
our unity, as we ourselves have grown from a nucleus of the 
first united thirteen colonies. 

With apologies to none, but with thanks to my photogra- 
phers and employes, who have assisted me in many ways in 
the production of this, the first complete work on our United 
States Colonies and Dependencies, I consign it to the reader, 
who will find contained within it more than one year's solid 
work of a busy life. 

Very truly, 



£v^&73^-^*< 



CONTENTS 

OUR COLONIES 

ALASKA 



CHAPTER 



I. SITUATION AND RACE SOURCE 

II. DISCOVERY AND FUR TRADING . 

III. UNCLE SAM IN ALASKA. 

IV. MINING IN ALASKA 

v. Alaska's railroads 

VI. SEALS AND SALMON 

VII. FARMING IN ALASKA 

VIII. INTERIOR ALASKA . 

IX. COAST TOWNS OF ALASKA 

X. TYPES AND SCENES . 



PAGE 

I 

13 
23 
31 
40 
48 
60 
69 
87 
109 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 

XI. OCEAN AND ISLANDS 

XII. HAWAII OF TODAY . 

XIII. A RACE MELTING-POT 

XIV. OUR MID-OCEAN PLAYGROUND 

XV. OUR OCEAN STRONGHOLD 

xiii 



130 

145 
157 

169 

179 



XIV 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

XVI. KING CANE AND HIS COURT 

XVII. SOME GREAT VOLCANOES 

XVIII. THE LEPER COLONY 



PAGE 

188 

I98 

205 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

XIX. SOME STRAY PACIFIC ISLES 

XX. DOCKING AT MANILA 

XXI. MANILA, THE LAYER CAKE. 

XXII. OUR WORK IN MANILA . 

XXIII. AMERICAN LIFE IN MANILA 

XXIV. AROUND THE GREAT LAKE 

XXV. DOWN IN BATANGAS 

XXVI. THE TAIL END OF LUZON 

XXVII. HISTORIC CAVITE 

XXVIII. OUR LITTLE NINE-MILLION-DOLLAR ROAD 

XXIX. THE DOG-EATING IGOROTS 

XXX. THE CHAMPION TERRACE BUILDERS 

XXXI. THE HEAD-HUNTERS OF LUZON 

XXXII. WHERE EVERYBODY SMOKES . 

XXXIII. MAKING CONVICTS INTO MEN 

XXXIV. COASTING THE VISAYAN ISLANDS 

XXXV. WHERE MAGELLAN WAS KILLED 

XXXVI. MINDANAO . . 



211 
220 
229 
238 
249 
258 
267 
274 
284 

293 
30I 

309 
318 

327 
336 

344 

35i 
361 



CONTENTS 



xv 



CHAPTER 

XXXVII. ACROSS MORO LAND 

XXXVIII. THE DATOS OF MORO LAND 

XXXIX. BLOOD- SOAKED JOLO 

XL. THE SULTAN OF SULU 

XLI. WHAT WE SHOULD DO 



PAGE 
3 68 

376 
383 
392 
40I 



PORTO RICO 

XLII. FIRST GLIMPSES 

XLIII. PORTO RICO'S PEOPLE 

XLIV. HOOKWORM AND PLAGUE 

XLV. PORTO RICO'S SCHOOLS 

XLVI. RESOURCES AND TRADE . 



406 
4l8 

431 

439 

448 



THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC OF 

PANAMA 



XLVII. THE CANAL AND REPUBLIC 
XLVIII. BUILDING AND OPERATION 
XLIX. TOLLS AND A FREE PORT 



46b 

472 
483 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 
CUBA 



L. HAVANA AND CIGARS 
LI. SPONGES AND THE ISLE OF PINES 



495 
519 



xvi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

LII. ACROSS CUBA ....... 53O 

LIII. SANTIAGO AND THE ORIENTE . . ■ . 543 

LIV. CUBA OF TOMORROW ...... 554 

THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 

LV. A FOSTER-CHILD ....... 566 

LVI. ACROSS THE REPUBLIC ..... 580 

LVII. THE MECCA OF MECCAS . 589 

THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI 

LVIII. THE BLACK REPUBLIC ..... 595 

LIX. PEOPLE, TOWNS AND RESOURCES . . . 604 

LX. THE REAL HAITIANS 614 

CONCLUSION 626 

INDEX . 62J 



OUR COLONIES 

ALASKA 

Area in square miles, 590,884, about one-fifth the size of the 
entire United States — Population, census 1010, 64,356, 
nearly equally divided between whites and natives, about 
one person to every nine square miles; population slightly 
decreasing owing to cessation of railroad building and with- 
drawal of coal lands; capital, Juneau, population, 101 4, 
about 4,000 — Chief resources of Alaska, gold, silver, copper, 
coal, tin, fisheries, furs, timber, seals, agriculture {the latter 
to be developed) — Imports to Alaska from the United 
States in 1913, $20,827,262; exports from Alaska to United 
States, $24,634,087, exclusive of gold and other minerals 
estimated at $22,000,000; fisheries and furs yield about 
$18,000,000 annually; extent of forests, 156,250 square 
miles; extent of coal fields, estimated by United States 
survey, 12,66/ square miles. 

CHAPTER I. 

SITUATION AND RACE SOURCE}. 

"Yukon Crossing, July 2, 191 3. 
"To Editor, Dawson News: 
UTN REPLY to your telegram for 100 words by wire on 
JL my first impression of Alaska, I send you the following : 
"After viewing the wonderful natural scenery of this por- 
tion of North America, there is no doubt in my mind that the 
first inhabitants of the American Continent crossed over from 
Asia, only a few miles distant, to Alaska, and were so charmed 
by the natural beauty of the valley of the Yukon that they 
never returned. Each year should double the number of 
tourists to a country where the camera, the artist's brush and 
2 1 



2 OUR COLONIES 

the writer's pen can only give to the world the faintest idea of 
the beauties of nature, the treasures of the mines, the rare fur 
animals, the countless fishes of the sea and streams, the rich- 
ness of the soil and the big-heartedness of the splendid white 
men and women who have made this country their home. 

"W; D. BOYCE." 

The above was written when I had reached the great valley 
of the Yukon. Afterward I traveled many thousands of miles 
through Alaska, visiting nearly every ocean port and island 
and mainland division, but I did not change my mind, nor 
could I have expressed myself more truthfully in ioo or 1,000 
words. The story of the creation of the world was told in 
600 words. It will take 25,000 words and numerous photo- 
graphs to give the reader an adequate conception of past, 
present and future Alaska. 

East Cape, Siberia, in Asia, is no doubt "the mother of 
America." From the nearest sheltered harbor it is less than 
fifty miles from Siberia to Alaska by water. Midway there 




THE DIOMEDE ISLANDS, BERING STRAITS, 



ALASKA 3 

are two islands, the Diomedes, which break the journey by 
small boat, so that the tiny canoe, or kayak, for one person, or 
the big skin boat carrying twenty or more men or women, could 
in perfect safety cross in the summer time, making daily round 
trips to Alaska. In the winter time it is always entirely 
frozen over, and without doubt the aborigines crossed from 
East Cape to Cape Prince of Wales, as people do now, using 
reindeer, dogs or traveling on snowshoes. For eight months 
each year, owing to Bering Straits being one solid field of ice, 
North America and Asia are as one. This is the all-land or ice 
route from the United States to Europe, through Asia, for the 
person who gets seasick or is afraid of water. 

While on board ship, a few miles north of the Diomede 
Islands, one clear morning, I could see very easily and dis- 
tinctly both Asia (Siberia) and North America (Alaska). As 
I stood looking at both shores I was reminded of the wild 
scheme, put forward some years ago, by which it was proposed 
to connect the two continents with a railroad tunnel. Such a 
tunnel would certainly need really to "penetrate the bowels of 




ETWEEN ALASKA AND SIBERIA. 



4 



OUR COLONIES 



the earth," as the water in the Bering Straits, the entrance to 
the Arctic Ocean, is very deep. 

The current from Bering Sea runs north into the Arctic 
Ocean, not south out of that ocean, as many think. Therefore, 
there are never any icebergs in the Bering Sea or North Pacific 
Ocean, such as we find in the North Atlantic Ocean. The ice 
pack in Bering Sea must wait for the ice to move with the 
current northeast in the Arctic Ocean ; hence the late opening 
of Bering Sea, about June ioth, each year. The well-known 
mining town of Nome, on the upper coast, has only four 
months of connection with the outside world, from middle 
June to middle October. Point Barrow, on the Arctic Ocean, 
the most northerly place belonging to the United States, is open 
to navigation for less than sixty days each year, and in some 
years hardly at all, if the ice pack does not move out early. 

Speculation as to the place and manner of mankind's origin 




LANDING IN AN OOMIAK, A WALRUS-SKIN BOAT, BERING SEA. 



ALASKA 




EAST CAPE, SIBERIA, NAT.VES. 




ESQUIMAU TOM-TOM PLAYERS, CAPE PRINCE OF WALES. 



6 OUR COLONIES 

has always been interesting, and to ascertain from whence came 
the original human stock of any country is of the greatest im- 
portance if one is to understand its conditions and history. 
Long before man had developed a reasoning mind and become 
"scientific," tradition and guessing gave us our only ancient 
history. However, the educated and thoughtful people of the 
world today, for the most part, agree that the first race of 
human beings to appear upon the earth was the yellow-skinned 
man, and that he came into life — how we know not — in Asia, 
where no doubt the first land showed itself above the pre- 
historic ocean. In Asia the world still has its highest moun- 
tain. 

In Africa, and other countries where I have hunted big 
game, I always found the widest and plainest game paths led 
to the point or region from which came the game for which I 
was looking. So with hunting for the origin of the human 
race, the investigator finds that every trail or path leads back 
to Asia. Clearly the first human inhabitants of the North 
American Continent came to Alaska from Asia, and spread 
south and east until they reached the furthermost southern 
point of South America. The human family, white, black or 
yellow, live longer, grow bigger and stronger and develop better 
minds in the belt around the world between the parallels 20 
degrees and 50 degrees north or south of the equator, unless in 
a locality affected by the hot or cold currents which flow 
through the ocean, much the same as rivers flow through the 
land. In these temperate zones north and south of the equator 
we find the greatest body of fertile land and the best timber and 
cattle, agricultural products, fruits, grains, minerals and climate 
— in short, everything that goes to develop and sustain the 
highest type of man. I bring this forward in order that the 
reader may intelligently follow the first inhabitants of the 
American Continent as they spread from the far northwest 
coast of Alaska southward until they peopled the island of 
Tierra del Fuego, south of the Straits of Magellan, the most 
southern point in South America. 

The North, South and Central American Indians no doubt 



ALASKA 7 

sprang from the Esquimaux, who came from Siberia, in Asia. 
They lived underground in northern Alaska during the long, 
hard winters, in a country where firewood and "fire water" 
were scarce, letting into their habitations as little cold, fresh 
air as possible. The result was small men and women, with 
flat noses, and rather short of life as well as of stature. 
Economy in housekeeping forced many of them to live in one 




THREE OF A KIND. 



"igloo," or cave house, with only one opening in the ceiling to 
permit the smoke to pass out. As the nights are nearly twenty- 
four hours long for six months of the year, windows, had they 
been possible, would have been of little use. They lived almost 
wholly upon fresh and dried fish and seal or walrus oils, and 
clothed themselves with the skins of fur-bearing animals. Need- 
less to say, during the long, dark winters they took few chances 
of "taking cold" by changing their clothes or bathing. As with 
the little boy whose mother wished to wash him, they preferred 
to be "dirty and warm rather than clean and cold." Only two 



8 OUR COLONIES 

prime necessities confronted them, getting something to eat 
and keeping warm in the winter. 

Evidently they were more prosperous in Alaska than in 
Siberia. Hence they kept working their way south and east 
and finding more pleasant lands, where food was more plentiful 
and the climate less severe; also, where the nights in winter 
and days in summer were not so long, and where they could 
live on the top of the ground and enjoy a greater amount of 
fresh air. These conditions produced stronger and larger- 
bodied, larger-lunged Esquimaux. This larger man the world 
came to call an Indian. His greater lung capacity necessitated 
larger nostrils, and he therefore grew a larger nose in order to 
take into his lungs more fresh air. He found wild game for 
food that had animal fat instead of fish fat, and that agreed 
with him better. He developed a stronger mind and body, 
learned to reason and concentrate his mental faculties upon the 
wild animals and wild game about him until he understood 
their habits, and was able to invent easier and surer methods of 
taking them. 

In fact, it was not long until the Indian began the everlast- 
ing struggle that has since been and today is world-wide — 
trying to get what the other fellow has, with or without his 
consent, otherwise known as "war." This wave of Indians 
continued spreading southward and eastward until the Atlantic 
Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico were reached. The fittest race 
of Indians seems to have developed along the North Mississippi 
River, especially in the territory once occupied by the Sioux 
tribes and buffalo herds. This portion of the country must 
have been the happy hunting grounds, or Heaven, of which 
every Indian dreamed when he had a very full or very empty 
stomach — and it was always one or the other with these primi- 
tive people. 

After the Indian got south of 20 degrees north, or into what 
is now Old Mexico and the Central American States, he began 
to slip back again. The climate was too hot for him and life 
was too easy, as he learned to live on fruits and vegetables and 
it was not necessary to kill much of the game, which was small 



ALASKA 9 

and not so plentiful as farther north. The Indian tribes soon 
spread through what is now Central America and that part 
of South America which lies north of the equator. Condi- 
tions were easy, their lives not very long, and the small or 
undersized Indian appeared. 

The Indian tribes continued spreading southward until they 
reached in South America a country much like southern Canada 
and the United States ; then they grew big and strong and 
brave again, not little and weak and treacherous, as the investi- 
gator usually finds them in the low tropics. The type of Indian 
after you get 50 degrees south begins to dwindle in size and 
they are not so strong in character. It is hard for them to get 
anything to eat. Remember always that through all South 
America there is no evidence of there ever having been wild 
game, to any important extent, and that the South American 
Indians always were vegetarians, or at least only very small 
meat eaters, which fact accounts for their peaceful disposition. 
This, no doubt, is the reason why the Spaniards conquered 




INDIAN SQUAW AND CHILD. TYPE OF CANOE USED ON THE YUKON RIVER. 



IO 



OUR COLONIES 




TOTEM POLES AT SITKA. 



them so easily, while the whites of 
North America have a very differ- 
ent tale to tell in regard to the 
North American Indians. The low- 
est and weakest race of Indians I 
have ever seen lived on the island 
of Tierra del Fuego, south of the 
Straits of Magellan. 

The reader will, no doubt, won- 
der why I have thus taken him with 
the Indian from the Arctic to the 
Antarctic Ocean ; it was to show him 
the effect of climate on mankind. 
This is one of the questions that 
must be seriously considered in con- 
nection with the development of 
Alaska, and the furnishing of a gov- 
ernment for a country on the Arctic 
Ocean, so far from Washington 
and — Heaven. However, Alaska is 
a country of many contradictions, as 
hereafter will become obvious to the 
reader. 

The spreading of the Indians 
from the Arctic to the Antarctic 
waters no doubt occupied many 
thousands of years, indeed so long 
a period of time that no one even 
dares to guess its length. The white 
race, however, with superior mind 
and skill, in a few centuries took 
practically everything away from 
the Indians, an example of the law 
of "the survival of the fittest." 

The Esquimaux and Indians 
always believed in the existence of 
a Supreme Being and, having a 



ALASKA 



ii 



vague belief in a hereafter, they reverently cared for their 
dead. For many years the Indians in southeastern Alaska 
erected monuments in the shape of carved poles, known as 




■ \> 



AN ANCIENT TOTEM POLE. MR. BOYCE ON LEFT. MR. SCOTT 
C. BONE ON RIGHT. 



12 OUR COLONIES 

totem poles. These monuments, made of cedar trees, told 
the story of both the male and female sides of the families — 
they were real family trees. Each Indian family had as its 
original stock a name applied to a bird, fish or animal, and 
intermarriage between the various classes was regarded as 
extremely bad form. For instance, a Bear could not wed a 
Wolf, but a Bear might take an Eagle as her husband (the 
woman was the head of the family) and a Beaver might marry 
a Salmon. 

These totem poles related family history extending back six 
or seven generations, and, erected all over the country, they 
caused Alaska to be known as "the land of totem poles and 
ice." They are still considered sacred by the natives, but on 
account of the ravages of time are becoming scarce. Accom- 
panied by Scott C. Bone, publisher of the Seattle Post-Intelli- 
gencer, I was passing by an old Indian burying ground when 
we came upon a totem pole so decayed that it was impossible 
to take a photograph of it without lifting it up. We put the 
pole back in place after its picture had been taken, and hastily 
departed, for our guide assured us that the natives would 
shoot us if they saw us touching it. Some time ago certain 
enterprising residents of Seattle stole an Alaskan totem pole 
and set it up in a public square. The natives had seen nearly 
everything else pass into the possession of white men, but the 
theft of the tombstone was too much ; they refused to acquiese 
in the robbery and the matter was taken up by the Government 
when they protested, and settled only after a great deal of 
trouble. The pole still remains, however, in the public square 
at Seattle. 



CHAPTER II. 

DISCOVERY AND FUR TRADING. 

THERE is a record that as far back as 1648 Russia knew 
there was a country inhabited by people east of Siberia, 
but credit for finding the Island of St. Lawrence in Bering Sea 
— the very first Alaskan land the whites set foot upon — is 
given to Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in the employ of the 
Russian navy. That was in 1728. He conducted a second 
expedition to Alaska in 1741, sighted Mount St. Elias, and 
landed near Controller Bay on Kayak Island. It was a sorry 
day indeed for the Alaskan Indians, but it had to come, as 
hardship and seeming disaster have come to many another 
group of inferior people in the evolution of the human race. 
This same Controller Bay in 191 1 was the scene of a second 
"Boston Tea Party," although this was an "Alaska coal party." 




::J 



GLACIER ON CONTROLLER BAY, ALASKA. 
13 



14 OUR COLONIES 

It seems that the Government at Washington had withdrawn 
from settlement and possible use certain coal lands near this 
port, and coal, so necessary in Alaska, that could have been 
mined at their back door, was shipped from British Columbia. 
The settlers objected to this enforced condition, and they met 
on the dock and dumped the Canadian coal into the harbor, as 
their historic ancestors had done to the tea in Boston harbor 
nearly a hundred and fifty years before. It is not easy to 
understand a policy that bottled up a home product and forced 
people to import, especially when that product was so essential 
an article as coal and the country Alaska. 

But to return to the main subject. Vitus Bering made a 
report for the Russian Government that the country was frozen 
up all of the time, which is about the sort of erroneous impres- 
sion some of our Government people seem to have of Alaska 
today. But needing roots and herbs for medicine, Bering sent 
Dr. Stellar ashore, and Stellar made a different report to the 
Russian Government. Chirikoff, who accompanied Bering in 
a separate ship, sent two small boats ashore with sailors at 
another point, and all the sailors were murdered by the Indians. 
Remember, they were now operating on the southeast coast of 
Alaska, nearly 1,000 miles from the original Esquimau settle- 
ment, and in a section affected by the warm Japan Current, 
and that the all-the-year-round above-ground outdoor life of the 
Esquimaux had produced by this time a warlike Indian. In 
fact", the Indians over all North America by 1741 had grown 
to be a physically strong people and were pretty warlike in 
character. Bering died of scurvy on his return journey and was 
buried on Bering Island. The cross erected over his grave was 
the first mark or display of ownership or discovery of Alaska 
by Russia. His ship had been wrecked and he expired before 
they reached land, but the sailors of his crew that survived 
constructed another boat from the material saved, and crossing 
Bering Sea to Russia, reported conditions and what they had 
found. 

The Russians, having conquered Siberia and subdued the 
Esquimaux, had an easy time with them and the Indians in 



ALASKA 



i5 



Alaska, as the Russians had firearms and the natives only 
bows and arrows and spears. Alaska was rich in valuable 
furs, and the subdued races there were soon brought almost to 
a condition of slavery. Of course, they sometimes rebelled 
under the cruel treatment they received from the dishonest and 
murderous Russians, who forced them to deliver more and 
more furs or their own lives. 

While the Russians were working farther east the British 
were working west through northern Canada, until they finally 
established trading posts on the Mackenzie River, flowing into 
the Arctic Ocean. Several other countries sent out expedi- 
tions to this portion of the New World. Spain had Mexico and 




RELICS OF THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION, 



16 OUR COLONIES 

California and claimed all the northwest Pacific Coast clear 
through to the Arctic Ocean. Russia claimed — weakly, how- 
ever — the coast extending down to California. If Spain and 
Russia could have agreed upon a point on the Pacific Coast, 
giving Russia the land north and Spain the country south, it 
afterward would have placed the United States in a very awk- 
ward position. But as both claimed what is now the States of 
Oregon and Washington and also British Columbia, we slipped 
in between and put up a better claim by settling Oregon and 
Washington. It was a very great mistake that we did not at 
the same time settle what is now the Canadian Pacific Coast. 

Immediately after the close of the Revolutionary War, 
Captain Cook, a famous English navigator, sailed from the 
Pacific Ocean to survey the Alaskan coast, and, if possible, find 
a northwest connection between the Hudson Bay and the 
Pacific Ocean. He stopped on his return at the Hawaiian 
Islands and was murdered there. He did more to furnish sur- 
veys and information about the northwest Pacific, Bering Sea 
and the Arctic Ocean than all other explorers who had pre- 
ceded him. 

In 1783 the first permanent Russian settlement was made 
in Alaska on Kodiak Island. When there I saw some evidence 
of this settlement, a stone foundation that was said to have 
been a portion of a warehouse. 

At about this time France, and even Italy, added their 
claims to a portion, if not all, of Alaska. With Russia in pos- 
session, and with England, France and Italy having claims 
already filed, it looked for some time as if Alaska might attract 
as much attention as she has since the discovery of gold at 
Dawson and Nome. A gigantic game was being played by the 
nations with large divisions of the earth's surface as the stakes. 
Naturally there was a great deal of anxiety and feeling. How- 
ever, things settled down, Russia farming out the whole of 
Alaska to the Russian- American Trading Company, a Russian 
corporation, and England turning over nearly all of western 
and northwest Canada to the Hudson Bay Fur Company. The 
English company had put in a trading post by this time as far 



ALASKA 



17 



west as Fort Yukon. This was in Russian Alaska, and it 
looked as if these two big fur monopoly corporations would 
precipitate their respective countries into serious trouble with 
each other. During the year 1793 two important events of 
lasting benefit to Alaska and the world occurred. George 
Vancouver, who had been an officer with Captain Cook, was 
commissioned by England to survey the Pacific Coast from 35 
degrees to 60 degrees north, or from the southern coast of 
California to Skagway. This was the largest order ever given 
to a surveyor, and it was completed in one year and so well 
done that navigators today go by Vancouver's charts. If our 
Government had charted the bottom of the "inside" ship passage 
from Seattle to Skagway there would not have occurred the 




SOME SNAPSHOTS OF MAN S BEST FRIEND IN ALASKA. 



18 OUR COLONIES 

wrecking of numerous vessels and the loss of many lives, as 
has been the case along this passage during recent years. This 
famous road for vessels lies, for a large part of the way, near 
the coast and sheltered from the open sea by a series of islands, 
and would be safe were the bottom of the course charted for 
the guidance of sailors. When the weather is favorable the 
scenery along this passage is very fine. 

But to return. Another celebrated British subject, Alex- 
ander Mackenzie, a member of the Northwestern Fur Com- 
pany, a competitor of the Hudson Bay Company, afterward 
taken over by the trust, crossed Canada to the Pacific Ocean 
in 1793 by dog team and small boats and came out in the region 
of Queen Charlotte Sound, about 500 miles north of Seattle. 
The only other crossing from ocean to ocean previously made 
was through Mexico, only a few hundred instead of thousands 
of miles. 

It was evident at about the beginning of the year 1800 that 
England had made up her mind to push her frontier through 
to the Pacific Coast, based on the claims she inherited when 
she took over Canada from France. Russia that year estab- 
lished a fort and trading post at Sitka. The Indians massacred 
the Russians, but they returned and rebuilt Sitka at a point 
a few miles west of the original site, and put up a good block- 
house where Sitka stands today. This became the Russian 
capital of Alaska, and remained so until the country was turned 
over to the United States in 1867. 

Several interesting characters represented Russia as Gov- 
ernors of Alaska, while in reality they were only general man- 
agers of the Russian-American Trading Company. The most 
brutal and able of these was Alexander Andrevich Baranof, 
who ruled for twenty-five years — from 1792 to 18 17. His life 
was constantly in danger from the Russian renegades and 
criminals who were sent or came to Alaska, and who lived 
promiscuously with the Indians. We find very little pure 
Esquimau or Indian blood today in Alaska, these strains being 
largely intermingled with Russian. 

Baranof, who had the reputation of being a very brave 



ALASKA 19 

man, wore a coat of chain mail under his outer clothing. He 
was absolutely opposed to anything except fur trading, and 
the first Indian who brought in gold was put to death. Fishing 
was only carried on to obtain food. There was one tribe of 
Indians, the Thlinkits, who made him a great deal of trouble. 
Their belief was "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life 
for a life," and every time anything happened to an Indian 
they blamed it onto the Russians, and whenever they caught a 
Russian, guilty or not, they made him pay the debt. The result 
was that many lives were sacrificed. 

Baranof's manner of disposing of criminals and his enemies 
was by shooting them, and it is said to have been his custom 
to execute ten Indians before breakfast. He would stand 
them up against a wall in the courtyard. By mistake one 
morning only nine were brought out and the officer was very 
much disturbed because he had to go back after breakfast and 
shoot the tenth. History gives us an account of several trag- 
edies that would make good plots for fiction. Baranof's own 
daughter fell in love with a young Russian officer, or prince, 
who was sent out to Alaska. The old man, not favoring the 
match, sent the young prince on a mission which was reported 
to the daughter as resulting in the death of her lover. She 
took the matter so much to heart that she committed suicide, 
and it is said that in a certain room in the old palace the ghost 
appears twice a year. I was in this room at Sitka, but am 
sorry to say it was the wrong day on which to see the ghost 
walk. 

Baranof, like many another hard-fisted dictator of the old 
days, fostered religion, and during his administration many 
Greek Catholic missionaries came to Alaska and churches were 
established. Even today a majority of the Esquimaux, Indians 
and half-breeds of Alaska are in the Greek Catholic Church. 

The Russian-American Trading Company grew and pros- 
pered exceedingly under Baranof, agreeing to pay a certain 
percentage of its earnings to the Russian Government for the 
privilege of practically monopolizing the whole of Alaska. Of 
course, the Government was in doubt, and had good reason to 




^KCHUro, 



ST.PAVL 



ISLAND 



SOME GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCHES OF ALASKA. 



ALASKA 21 

be, as to whether or not it always received its just share, or 
percentage, and was constantly investigating or checking up 
the Trading Company. The Russian Government claims that 
it always operated Alaska at a loss, which I believe is true, and, 
except for the gold and fish the United States has received 
from Alaska, the same would be true of our occupancy of the 
same territory. Baranof finally started to return to Russia — a 
broken-down old man — but died at sea. His enemies say that 
he was poisoned, but it seems more probable, after the life he 
had led, that he died from natural causes. 

The next Alaskan Governor of importance was Baron 
Rezanof, direct from the Russian court. He not only repre- 
sented the Russian-American Trading Company, but he also 
represented Russia in a broad way. He had heard of the 
mythical "Isle of Gold," and instead of punishing the Indians 
for bringing in gold he rewarded them. He seemed to have 
had the faculty of recognizing a "good thing" when he encoun- 
tered it, not unlike an American merchant who discovered that 
a man had been falsely representing himself as a collector for 
the firm, and taking in more money than any two of the firm's 
real collectors. The merchant hired a detective and said : 

"I want that man caught as quickly as possible." 

"All right," said the detective, "I'll have him in jail in less 
than a week." 

"Great Scott !" said the merchant, "I don't want him put in 
jail ; I want to hire him !" 

Rezanof didn't kill the Indians who brought in gold; he 
hired them to go out after more. 

This same astute Rezanof attempted to establish a Japanese 
colony in Alaska, but this was a failure. He did succeed, how- 
ever, in establishing several manufacturing institutions. 
Among his successful undertakings was the building of ships 
and the establishing of a foundry where they made bronze 
church bells. 

Alaska, up to that time, 1830, had produced no grains, 
fruits or vegetables, and as there were only a few months in 
the year in which they could receive supplies of this kind from 



22 OUR COLONIES 

Russia, Rezanof concluded that he would take a shipload of 
church bells and furs to San Francisco — then owned by Spain 
and a port of Mexico — and trade them for grain and dried 
vegetables, such as beans, peas, etc. When he arrived at Yerba 
Buena, now San Francisco, he found the Spanish Governor of 
Mexico had placed an embargo on trading with Russia, and he 
was officially refused an opportunity to exchange his bells and 
furs for the commodities of that country. However, he was 
in no hurry to return to Sitka, and as the local Governor had a 
beautiful daughter, Senorita Concepcione, he put in his time 
quite pleasantly and made love to the pretty Spanish girl — for- 
getting to tell her, however, that he had a large family at home. 
He succeeded also in impressing her father as a very desirable 
son-in-law, and while Rezanof made himself agreeable to the 
Governor and his daughter, the commander of his ship quietly 
got rid of the cargo of bells and furs and stored away a shipload 
of grain and provisions, with the natural but surprising result 
that one pleasant morning the Baron failed to call on the Gov- 
ernor and his daughter because he was far out at sea. It is 
said the matter resulted in another suicide — of a Spanish young 
lady this time. 

In course of time Spain presented the matter to the Court 
of St. Petersburg, and Baron Rezanof was recalled and more 
"gum shoe" men were sent to Alaska — the same as we are 
sending them there today for the United States — and an 
investigation was instituted, a new Governor appointed, and 
history repeated itself until Russia at last realized how impos- 
sible it was for her to operate a territory so far away from the 
seat of Government, and wisely sold out to the United States. 






CHAPTER III. 

UNCLE SAM IN ALASKA. 

THE first white men to cross the United States territory 
between the Spanish possessions to the south and the 
British possessions to the north were the members of the 
expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1804- 
06. This party was sent out by President Jefferson to ascer- 
tain how promising and valuable was the great territory we 
had acquired by the Louisiana Purchase from France. The 
expedition passed through the immense region which now 
forms the States of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Da- 
kota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, 
to the Pacific Ocean. The party consisted of twenty-nine men. 
They traveled 8,500 miles and were gone nearly three years. 
Great dangers and suffering and hardships were encountered, 
but they brought back a mass of information regarding the 
geography of the region, and reports on the flora and fauna and 
climate and the Indian tribes of the vast domain they had 
traversed. The journey was one of the notable exploration 
feats of history, and of immense value to the United States. 
Immigration to the Oregon and Washington territories actively 
began about 1832. Missions were founded by the Methodists 
and Presbyterians, and by 1845 the American population of 
this Northwest region had reached 3.000 people. Prominent 
among the pioneer missionaries was Marcus Whitman, whose 
party took the first wagon across the Rocky Mountains, reach- 
ing the Columbia River in 1836. After a varied career in that 
far-off country Whitman and twelve of his associate workers 
were massacred by the Cayuse Indians in 1847. Indian trou- 
bles were frequent from the beginning of settlement by whites, 



23 



24 



OUR COLONIES 



NATIVE CHILD, 
NOME. 



the Shoshone War of 1866-68 and the Modoc War 
of 1864-73 being widespread and serious. 

The boundary lines were fixed with Russia in 
1824-25 at 54 degrees 40 minutes, and finally set- 
tled between the United States and British Colum- 
bia at 49 degrees in 1846. The most important 
boundary line treaty affecting the United States 
was decided in our favor in October, 1903, when 
the commission appointed to settle the line between 
Canada and Alaska decided in our favor. This 
was rather hard on our neighbors, as it forever 
confines the Yukon Territory to the interior, giving 
the seacoast in front of it to the United States. Until the dis- 
covery of gold at Dawson, this isolated piece of British terri- 
tory was of little concern, but its big yield of the yellow metal 
has put it conspicuously "on the map." Two of the American 
members of the commission were United States Senators 
Henry Cabot Lodge and Elihu Root. Canada 
undoubtedly has always felt hurt for having been 
cut out from the Pacific Ocean by this treaty and 
showed its resentment by voting down reciprocity 
with the United States. 

A good story is told of how the British nearly 
lost the remainder of the Pacific Coast, that por- 
tion lying between the State of Washington and 
Alaska. In 1840 England sent out a sportsman- 
statesman to look the country over to see if it 
was worth fighting for. The United States was 
putting up at least a good "bluff." This secret 
agent of the Crown viewed the disputed region, 
saw that the streams and rivers were full of 
salmon, the great English game fish, and putting 
his fishing rod together, carefully tried every 
,fly. He was unable to get a "rise." Disgusted, 
so the story goes, he returned to England and 
a patriot, holy cross solemnly reported to the King that the country 
mission. was "not worth a 'bob'; the salmon would not 





ALASKA 25 

rise to a fly." If we had only known of this report and "stood 
pat" it looks as if we might have won without a single battle. 

The pioneers who followed the trail blazed by Lewis and 
Clark up the Missouri River, across the Rockies and Cascade 
Mountains to Puget Sound, and set up the battle cry of " 54-40 
or fight," knew what they were talking about. Had the United 
States boundary line been carried north to meet the then south- 
ern Russian Alaska boundary line, at 54 degrees 40 minutes 
north, Great Britain, or Canada, would have been cut out of 
ports on the Pacific Coast, and our coast line would have been 
continuous. 

The Government at Washington at that time, however, 
knew about as much regarding the Pacific Coast, and especially 
the northwest Pacific, or Puget Sound country, as it does about 
certain portions of Alaska and the needs of the people of the 
whole of Alaska, today. Indeed, the great and wise Daniel 
Webster stated frankly in the United States Senate that he 
didn't know anything- about the country west of the Rocky 
Mountains, and further, he "didn't give a d — n." 

This parallels the position, through lack of information, 
taken by the last national administration with reference to 
Alaska. If each member of Congress could take six months 
or a year of! and travel from 15,000 to 20,000 miles in Alaska, 
he would more intelligently understand that country's needs. 
But about the time he had fitted himself to legislate for the 
32,000 white people — equal to about one-sixth of the popula- 
tion of the constituency of a member of Congress — he might 
fail of reelection, and the new Representative or Senator 
would have to do it all over again, or guess at it. 

We now come to the purchase of Alaska from Russia by 
the United States for $7,200,000. England and Russia were 
not friendly, and the great Hudson Bay Fur Company, with 
its powerful London influence and owning nearly one-half the 
land in western Canada, was eager to have the Crown secure 
Alaska. The United States and Russia were very friendly, 
and, besides, in 1867, the United States was under obligations 
to Russia and anxious to pay off its debt. Both countries were 



26 



OUR COLONIES 



desirous of keeping England from adding to her Canadian 
possessions. Neither Russia nor the United States considered 
Alaska worth anything commercially — gold had not yet been 
discovered — or the American Government would have paid 
far more for the possession of this territory, which is equal to 
one-fifth the size of our own country. We have — up to and 
including 1912 — taken out of Alaska in gold, furs, fish, etc., 
$510,753,251. Adding the expense of governing the country 
to the original cost of $7,200,000, we are about $490,000,000 
ahead. Not a bad bargain. 

It is reported that on October 18, 1867, when the Russian 
flag was lowered at Sitka and the Stars and Stripes hoisted, 
there was little enthusiasm and considerable sadness on both 
sides. We were not celebrating any victory and Russia, our 
friend, was giving up part of her territory. We were assum- 
ing new responsibilities in taking over a vast country that we 
knew very little about, and facing possible trouble with Eng- 
land. We had no colonial experience and our political situa- 
tion at the time was rotten. Corruption was everywhere. 
Secretary of State Seward, who had really forced the deal 
through Congress, was blamed on every side. We started 




NATIVE ALASKAN PUPPIES, THREE MONTHS OLD. 



ALASKA 



27 



wrong and, except for the find- 
ing of gold, would still be "in 
bad," as after forty-five years of 
ownership only 32,000 white peo- 
ple live in the whole of Alaska, 
and the total would be less, 
except that a lot of them cannot 
get away. Every steamer leav- 
ing an Alaskan port, when I was 
there, stationed two men at the 
gangway to keep out stowaways. 
As soon as the Stars and 
Stripes went up at Sitka the 
United States army took posses- 
sion, and located military posts 
not only at Sitka, but at Tongas 
and Wrangell, and complete 
military rule was established 
throughout the Territory. The 
Esquimaux, Indians and Rus- 
sians occupying the country were 
all taken over, and while we 
made no agreement whatever 
with reference to how we would 
treat the Esquimaux and Indians, 
we did enter into an agreement 
with reference to the Russian 
subjects. The treaty of cession, 
signed May 28, 1867, between 
the United States and Russia 
provided as follows : "The 
inhabitants of the ceded terri- 
tory ... if they should pre- 
fer to remain in the ceded terri- 
tory, they, with the exception of 
the uncivilized tribes, shall be 
admitted to the enjoyment of all 




28 OUR COLONIES 

the rights and immunities of citizens of the United States, and 
shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of 
their liberty, property, and religion. The uncivilized tribes 
will be subject to such laws and regulations as the United 
States may from time to time adopt in regard to aboriginal 
tribes of that country." 

In practically making citizens out of the Russians in Alaska 
we took over a people who talked a different language and had 
a religion unlike our own. There are few pure-blooded Rus- 
sians left today in Alaska; as I mentioned before, they have 
largely intermarried with the Indians, and quite a percentage 
of the half-breed Russian-Indian women are now living with 
white prospectors and trappers. 

The United States customs revenue and navigation laws 
were at once extended to Alaska, and the army and navy ruled. 
In 1885, by an act of Congress, Alaska was attached to the 
State of Oregon for judicial purposes. 

As early as 1869 the Alaska Commercial Company estab- 
lished steam navigation on the lower Yukon River to control 
the little fur trading posts. In 1870 a twenty years' lease of 
the Pribilof fur-seal islands was made to the same company. 
The Alaska Commercial Company was owned by a lot of 
American grafting politicians, mainly of the Eastern States, 
who had sufficient power at Washington to cause the army to 
look the other way while they did as they pleased in Alaska. 
The Russian-American Company did the same thing while 
Russia owned the territory. 

In 1882 the Arctic explorer, Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, 
an officer in the United States army, on leave of absence from 
his command, was engaged by the New York Herald to explore 
the Yukon River from its source to its mouth. He was the 
first white man to cross over the White Pass route from the 
point where Skagway is now located to the headwaters of 
the Yukon. He built a raft with the aid of some Indians and 
floated down the entire course of the river for 2,200 miles, 
making many interesting discoveries, and finally landed at St. 
Michael. He attempted to change the name of the river from 



ALASKA 



29 



Yukon to Bennett in honor of Mr. Bennett, publisher of the 
New York Herald, but this change the Government wisely 
refused to recognize. He did, however, succeed in naming 
Lake Bennett, on the White Pass in Yukon Territory, in honor 
of his employer. 

Lieutenant Schwatka is an old friend of the writer, and con- 
tributor to The Saturday Blade. I thought of him frequently 
as I sailed down the Yukon River. We passed one steamboat 
bearing his name. He is endeared to the readers of my publi- 
cations through the discovery of a race of people in Old 
Mexico, the cliff and cave dwellers, which was supposed to have 
been extinct for over 300 years, and aided the writer in bring- 
ing to the United States in 1890 thirteen Indians, men, women 
and children, who were pronounced by the professors at Har- 
vard, Yale and Princeton as being genuine descendants of the 
original cave and cliff dwellers of Arizona and New Mexico; 
in fact, through him the very first expedition of The Saturday 
Blade was made successful. 
From St. Michael, Schwatka 
coasted along the Seward 
Peninsula toward Bering 
Strait in the Arctic Ocean, and 
brought back to the writer 





NATIVE IN KAYAK, 
LOWER YUKON. 

placer-m i 11 e d 
gold from the 
region in which 
the city of 
Nome now 



KAYAKS, NATIVE CANOES, IN BERING SEA. 



30 OUR COLONIES 

stands. Had I felt confidence in his discovery, Nome and 
the Alaska gold fields would have been opened up ten years 
earlier than they were. 

In 1900 Alaska was granted civil government with judicial 
power and four judicial districts were created. The first man 
sent to Nome with judicial functions was Judge R. N. Stevens 
of Bismarck, North Dakota, who remained there about five 
years. He also is an old and close personal friend. Readers 
will therefore understand that for the last twenty-five years I 
have been in personal touch with the Alaskan situation, and 
that many of the present problems touching the territory are 
not new ones to me. 

In 1900 the United States Government began building a 
system of trails, roads and telegraph and cable lines in Alaska. 
The work has been under the supervision of Colonel W. P. 
Richardson, who has spent millions of Government money 
with little or no benefit to the people who live in Alaska. 



CHAPTER IV. 

MINING IN ALASKA. 
6 (.r^ OLD in the Shushana!" 

vJ The same old thrilling cry that, beginning in 1897, with 
"Gold in the Klondike !" started the rush of gold seekers to the 
then unknown North. Like all gold stampedes, only a small 
percentage of those in the rush were ever favored by fortune 
with the richer strikes — strikes that would pay to work, with 
returns sufficient to justify the exorbitant cost of labor and 
supplies typical of all pioneer conditions in a frontier land. 
The great majority of the less favored, and those unfamiliar 
with mining and frontier conditions and hardships, turned their 
faces and "mushed" homeward. The statements made by 
many of them upon arriving at home were much the same in 
effect as the statement of the lady bargain hunter when she 
came home from a fire sale of dry goods. 

"Well, wife, what did you find at that wonderful fire sale?" 
inquired her husband. 

"Why, my dear, I bought some of the loveliest silk stock- 
ings you ever saw for fourteen cents a pair. There isn't a thing 
the matter with them, except that the feet are burned off." 

Many of the returned gold seekers had bought "perfectly 
lovely" claims, except that the claims contained no gold. The 
others, those with determination and grit, pushed on through 
the new, unknown North, and from their efforts came the 
discoveries of Fairbanks, Nome and the Seward Peninsula, 
Circle, Rampart, Koyokuk, Yakataga, Willow Creek, Nizina, 
Chisna, Chistochina, Bremner, Kobuk, Valdez Creek, Yentna, 
Bonnifield, Kantishna, Innoko, Kuskokwim, Squirrel Creek, 
Mulchatna, Tacotna, Iditarod, Good News Bay, Ruby, Anvik, 
Fox, and the Shushana. Each time the same thrilling cry, 
"Gold!" 

3i 



32 OUR COLONIES 

The hardier of those who failed to strike it in the former 
stampedes, supplemented each time with new recruits, shoul- 
dered their pack of beans, bacon, shovel, pick and gold pan, and 
hastened to the newer camp, lured on by the cry of gold — the 
magnet that has opened up and made known to the civi- 
lized world the great mineral resources of Alaska, a land in 
area ten times as large as the State of Illinois, a land unequaled 
by any like area in the world for its general distribution of 
gold placers. Sixteen years after we first heard the magic 
cry "Gold in the Klondike," we heard the cry repeated with 
"Gold in the Shushana," one hundred and fifty miles southwest 
of the Klondike and in the eastern part of central interior 
Alaska. 

Each new strike during the last sixteen years has made 
known large deposits of low-grade gravels that would not pay 
to work under the primitive and costly methods of the indi- 
vidual. In later years areas of sufficient extent have been 
obtained to warrant the installation of costly hydraulic and 
dredging machinery, and the richer portions have been oper- 
ated, but, even with the most improved methods of handling, 
there remain great areas that, owing to the excessive cost of 
labor and supplies, would not pay. These areas of low-grade 
ground, which it will take years to work out, will have to await 
improved transportation facilities, as the only means of redu- 
cing the prohibitive costs. 

In the Shushana district a recent quoted price of such com- 
modities as beans, bacon, sugar, etc., was $i per pound, the 
price of one sack of flour being $50. Thus it has been during 
all of the gold stampedes, with costs greater or less, governed 
by the distance from rail or steamboat terminals. As soon as 
trails and roads are cut out and streams bridged, these costs 
are reduced, but never have they reached the basis where it is 
possible to work the gravels of lower value, except in a few 
favored sections close to water transportation, where large 
hydraulic or dredging plants could be maintained. The result 
has been that the "cream" has been skimmed from the richer 
deposits and the others left until the country shall be generally 
opened up and it will pay to build railroads. 



ALASKA 



33 



Attracted to Alaska by the lure of gold were many miners 
of long experience who turned their attention to quartz pros- 
pecting, with the result that Alaska has proved to be a land 
not only of great and widely scattered placer-gold deposits, 
but with some deposits of gold quartz, also with copper, coal, 
iron, tin, marble, gypsum and many other valuable minerals, 
fortunately near the coast and easily reached by short rail- 
roads that private capital will surely build when our Govern- 
ment sees fit to lift the baneful conservation and reservation 
ban placed on everything. Of course, if the United States 
Government should ever build a railroad, or take over and 
operate the roads already built in Alaska, which do not pay, 
the laws would have to be changed to make it possible to open 




SCENE IN THE INTERIOR OF THE TREADWELL MINE. 



34 



OUR COLONIES 



up the country. No railroad will pay in a "bottled up" country. 
Gold quartz has been found in many sections of Alaska, but 
only where situated on tidewater 
have these properties proved profit- 
able to work. The world-famous 
Treadwell in southeastern Alaska 
is now operating to a depth of 1,800 
feet, and is crushing and handling 
at a handsome profit ore averaging 
only $2.35 gold per ton. On this 
property, most favorably situated 
on the shore of Douglas Island, 
with a splendid harbor, the cost of 
mining has been reduced to a mini- 
mum. About 4,000 tons of ore are 
handled each day. The Treadwell 
ore body has been developed for a 
distance of about three-fourths of 
a mile and in places has a width of 
200 feet. 

Across Gastineau Channel on the 
mainland, and within two miles of 
the Treadwell, are two properties 
now being opened for development 
— one by the Treadwell Company 
and the other by the Alaska Gasti- 
neau Mining Company. In the 
opening up of the latter property 
$4,500,000 will be expended before 
the beginning of operations. A 
plant is being installed with a capac- 
ity of 6,000 tons per day, and it 
promises to cut even the low cost of 
production attained at Treadwell. 

Near Seward, Mr. S. O. Morbard 
has just erected a ten-stamp mill 
working rich ore, but here the un- 
just and ridiculous United States 




ALASKA 



35 



Government tax of $100 per mile has put the railroad out of 
business and there is little being done. The successful opera- 
tion of the Cliff mine, in the Valdez district, has given an 
impetus to mining that has resulted in the discovery and 
development of a number of promising properties. In the 
Kenai Peninsula and Willow Creek regions there are now in 
operation six small mills. The properties on which these are 
located, not being on tidewater, are subject to heavy costs of 
transportation, and only the richer properties are being devel- 
oped. Southwestern Alaska has only one small stamp mill, on 
Unga Island. The Seward Peninsula has two small mills. 

With the decline of the rich placer mines in the Fairbanks 
region attention was directed to the quartz discoveries which 
were first made in 1903. In 1909 the first stamp mill was 
erected. This was home-built and consisted of three stamps. 
The results were so satisfactory that in 1912 there were in this 
district fifteen small mills with a total of fifty-eight stamps. 
The ore being crushed probably averages about $50 per ton. 




GOLD CONCENTRATORS AT THE TREADWELL MINE. 



36 



OUR COLONIES 




SINKING A PROSPECT HOLE ON ESTHER CREEK, NEAR FAIRBANKS. 

Operations in this section extend over a distance of twenty- 
five miles. As to the extent of the district, no estimate can be 
made. The field being in the Tanana interior, about 380 miles 
from the coast, the cost of development and operations is so 
excessive that only the higher grade ore can be mined. 

Gold quartz discoveries have been made in many other 
widely separated sections of Alaska. In many instances these 
are so remote from rail or water transportation that very little 
work has been done on them and their value and extent are not 
known with any degree of accuracy, but from the profitable 
results already obtained it can be conservatively predicted that 
Alaska has many rich undeveloped quartz deposits. 

The existence of copper in Alaska was known to the Rus- 



ALASKA 



37 



sians in early days, but it is evident that their information was 
secondary and through the Indians. It was not until 1899 that 
any of the richer deposits were pointed out by the natives to 
the whites. In that year prospectors were guided to the 
Latouche Bonanza copper deposit on Latouche Island, 
Prince William Sound, and to the Nikolai deposit in the 
Copper River region. It was in the latter, named after Chief 
Nikolai, that prospectors, searching the surrounding country 
in the following year, discovered the famous Kennecott 
Bonanza deposit, said to run 60 per cent copper, the mine 
that caused the Guggenheims and Morgans to spend $20,- 
000,000 in building a railroad 196 miles long at a cost of 
over $100,000 a mile in order to transport the ore to the coast. 




SLUICING FOR GOLD ON ESTHER CREEK, NEAR FAIRBANKS. 



38 



OUR COLONIES 



This mine during the last two years of operation paid $3,000,- 
000 in dividends. The railroad has been run at a big loss, and, 
it is said, they are more than willing that Uncle Sam should 
step in and spend some of his money. 

Copper deposits have been discovered on the northeast 
slope of this range of mountains, extending from the White 
to the Nabesna River, a distance of about sixty miles. In 
southwestern Alaska and in southern Alaska are a number of 
producing copper mines on tidewater. The Kennecott Bonanza 
is the only interior copper mine now being worked. 

Coal is found in several explored sections of Alaska, rang- 
ing in quality from lignite to anthracite. As only one-fourth 
of Alaska is geologically known, and only a very small part 
of this area by detailed surveys, any estimate of the enormous 
quantity of coal available is purely speculative. The United 
States Geological Survey in a recent publication states that it 
is probably safe to say that the minimum estimate of Alaska's 
coal resources should be placed at 150,000,000,000 tons, and 
that the actual tonnage may be many times that amount. This 
estimate, stated to be a minimum one, would provide for an 
output of 10,000 tons daily — the present output of all the coal 
mines in British Columbia — for over 40,000 years. This being 




COAL FIELDS ON THE NENANA RIVER. THE DARK STREAKS ARE 
ENORMOUS LAYERS OF COAL. 



ALASKA 39 

true, I can see no good reason for reserving, conserving or 
"bottling" it up. The coal today being used by the United 
States Government for the supply of our naval and revenue 
vessels in Alaskan waters, and as fuel for the Northern army 
posts, is brought from Australia in Norwegian vessels at a 
cost of about $15 per ton, while the billions of tons of Alaskan 
coal remain undeveloped and tied up by our Government's 
policy.* 

Tin promises to become one of the valuable mineral 
resources of Alaska. It is found in the Seward Peninsula and 
in the region between the Tanana and Yukon Rivers. It is 
only during the last four years that there has been any intelli- 
gent effort made in the mining of tin in Alaska. In 1910 the 
value of tin ore exported from Alaska was $6,750. In 1912 
the value was $90,831. In 1913 there was also a substantial 
increase. These are the only known tin deposits of any extent 
on the North American Continent, and a large amount of tin 
plate is used in the Alaskan fishing industry. With the tin 
industry sufficiently developed to warrant the construction of 
smelting works in the North, it would result in a great saving, 
as all tin ores now have to be shipped to Europe for reduction. 

Gypsum for the manufacture of plaster of paris and land 
plaster, or fertilizer, has likewise been found and is being 
mined on tidewater in southeastern Alaska. The value of this 
industry in 1912 was $129,375. 

Petroleum has been discovered in the Controller Bay and 
Cook Inlet regions of Alaska, and in the former locality a small 
refinery has been erected, from the products of which the local 
markets are supplied with gasoline. The Alaskan oils in both 
of these fields are of a paraffin base, the type that is daily 
becoming more valuable, owing to the heavy demand for gaso- 
line. 

*Note: — Since the above was written and first published our Gov- 
ernment naval experts on fuel have condemned this coal, stating 
that it is not fit for navy use. 



CHAPTER V. 

Alaska's railroads. 

ALASKA, like all new countries, has her share of success- 
ful men, also of windy boomers and human failures. 
The human failures and Government employes all want the 
Government to spend a lot of money in Alaska in building rail- 
roads, wagon roads, bridges and winter trails, dredging har- 
bors and other cash-distributing projects. In fact, I heard it 
suggested that if Canada would permit, it would be a good 
scheme to pump the Japan Current into the source of the 
Yukon River, and from thence let it flow west down that 
stream, making a perpetual warm country out of the Valley of 
the Yukon. This, of course, would be objected to by the 
Alaskans living on the Pacific waters, as it would favor 
the Yukon Valley and Bering Sea, and leave their part of the 
country frozen eight months out of the twelve. So you see 
how impossible it is to please or serve more than 3,000 or 
4,000 people in Alaska at less than a cost of several billions of 
dollars without disappointing the other 28,000. 

Seriously speaking, it must not be forgotten that the 32,000 
white people in Alaska are scattered over a territory one-fifth 
the size of the United States. The winters, except for a 
small strip of country along the southeast coast — affected by 
the warm Japan Current — extend over eight months of the 
year. This meager and widely scattered population and the 
long Arctic winters unquestionably make the shaping and 
handling of most projects unusually risky and difficult. Never- 
theless, Alaska is a wonderful country in many ways, and I 
have never met with a braver, stronger lot of men — two- 
thirds of the population are men — in any other part of the 
world. They come from everywhere, but especially from the 

40 



ALASKA 41 

Pacific Coast and gold-producing States ; some from Australia, 
Canada and the cold countries of Europe. 

Keep in mind all the time, however, that it is over 1,500 
miles from Ketchikan, the southeast corner of Alaska, to Cape 
Prince of Wales, on Bering Strait, northwest of Nome. And 
again, it is over 1,500 miles from Unalaska and Dutch Harbor, 
in the southwest corner of Alaska, to the Arctic Ocean north of 
Fort Yukon. While Alaska is not equal to a country 1,500 
miles square, it is just as difficult to serve from a transporta- 
tion standpoint, and nearly all of its service must be by rail, as 
compared with water, except a few fishing towns and ports 
on the south and southwest coasts, as the rivers, as well as 
Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, are frozen for eight months, 
and sometimes more, each year. 

I traveled over 8,000 miles in Alaska, and found the popula- 
tion of 32,000 whites pretty evenly divided between the inland 
and coast, and was impressed with the impossibility of our 
Government acting fairly toward the whole of Alaska in 
undertaking to supply them with transportation, to say nothing 
of the enormous expense and inevitable loss when it shall be 
attempted. As nearly as I can calculate, it would cost $200,- 
000,000 to serve 20,000 of the 32,000 Alaskans with railroads 
at an annual loss of $30,000,000 a year, or equal to $1,500 a 
year pension for each man, woman and child brought within 
the transportation belt. 

Of course, for $50,000,000 five thousand people can be 
served, but the rates and percentage will remain the same, and 
the rest of the people, entitled to equally as good treat- 
ment, will be disappointed, and. with a just cause for complaint. 

Now, as to traffic or tonnage to be developed by the Gov- 
ernment in spending millions of dollars for railroads. It seems 
doubtful if any great amount of freight can be secured, aside 
from coal, and the cost of mining the coal — with labor in 
Alaska from $4 to $6 a day — the quality of the coal, and the 
long water haul after the railroad has brought it to the Alaskan 
coast — Alaska's coal is in the interior — must all be considered. 
Always remember, that steam coal at Seattle, the nearest 



42 OUR COLONIES 

market, 1,200 miles distant by water, is selling at about $3 a 
ton ; that the only thing Alaska timber is really good for is to 
be used as firewood, and that the whole northwest Pacific Coast 
has an abundance of such fuel ; and, furthermore, that the 
Panama Canal, from a commercial standpoint, is expected to 
supply California with cheap coal, in order that vessels may 
have a cargo both ways, and reduce the carrying charges on 
American bottoms using the canal and loaded with Pacific 
Coast fruits, grains and lumber for Eastern and European 
ports. 

If the Alaskan coal fields are fully opened up, and are as 
extensive and as cheap to mine as claimed, and the raiLand 
water haul as cheap as on the Atlantic Coast, then less coal will 
go through the Panama Canal, and there will be empty bottoms 
going west and double charges for cargoes coming east. 

However, I am getting away from Alaska, though not from 
what affects Alaska. Cut off as it is from the United States, 
with Canada in between, but with a splendid navigable ocean 
and an inside course, back of islands, which enables vessels to 
sail from Seattle to Skagway on waters equal to a big river 
that widens out to lakes here and there, the coast town trans- 
portation by water from the southeastern port of Ketchikan 
to Seward, 800 miles to the northwest, is ideal and open the 
year around. On this coast line of 800 miles we find more or 
less prosperous towns, with 50 per cent of the total population 
of Alaska. 

Almost every coast town that has a port open the year 
around is claiming to be the only point from which to reach 
the interior of Alaska. It is perfectly natural that each of 
these points should wish to benefit from the building of a rail- 
road, although I am only trying to be frank and truthful when 
I say that the deadest towns I was in, like Skagway, Cordova 
and Seward, had railroads. Apparently, it was only while 
money was being spent in building these roads that the towns 
showed great activity. 

There are eight railroads in Alaska. Six have failed, and 
only four are being operated at all, and but a portion of the 



ALASKA 



43 



year. I will tell you about the only two that have never gone 
into the hands of a receiver, although these two have never 
paid the stockholders any dividends. 

The White Pass & Yukon Route, from Skagway, Alaska, 
to White Horse, in the Yukon Territory, Canada, is no miles 
in length. Twenty miles of the line is in the United States. 
In 1897, when the Dawson placer deposits were discovered, 
thousands of men sailed from all over the world to Skagway, 
winter and summer alike, and hundreds lost their lives on the 
White Pass through snowslides and exposure. Then this rail- 
road was quickly and well built by English capital, and the trail 
destroyed by blasting for rail construction. There followed a 
rate of twenty cents a mile per passenger, with "any old rate" 
for freight. The same rates are still in effect, and as the com- 
pany owns the boats on the Yukon River for some 1,200 miles, 
passengers and shippers are up against the same monopoly of 
internal traffic, both in the Yukon Territory and Alaska proper. 




INSPIRATION POINT, ON WHITE PASS RAILROAD. 



44 



OUR COLONIES 



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igmEftter 


'tijtal k. .^^s 


DP ■■- i ^ 




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mmmKmmmsmm 


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ALONG THE LINE OF THE COPPER RIVER AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD. 



Yet, even at the prices named, the company is unable to pay 
a dividend. The trains and boats are good, the best to be found 
anywhere in Alaska, and passengers are treated like human 
beings, but there is simply not enough business. 

The Copper River & Northwestern, the only other road 
in Alaska not in the hands of a receiver, is owned and operated 
by the Guggenheims and Morgans, and runs from Cordova to 
Kennecott, 196 miles, to reach a number of rich copper prop- 
erties, especially the Bonanza group of mines, owned by the 
same interests. The Copper River & Northwestern Road is 
well kept up, and is the only standard-gauge road in Alaska. 
All the others are narrow-gauge. 

Next, we have the many times failed and confiscated Alaska 
Northern. It starts at Seward, and is built north seventy- 



ALASKA 



45 



two miles to Nowhere. This is known as the Frost Road, not 
because it was such a "frost," or is located in Alaska, but on 
account of the promoter's name being Frost. It was constructed 
by Canadian capital, and broke the bank in Canada that backed 
it. Frost, himself, has recently been tried criminally by the 
United States courts. However, he was acquitted, and although 
his reputation as a promoter is not good, it is generally believed 
that he was so handicapped by United States Government 




SEWARD HARBOR AND U. S. BATTLESHIP MARYLAND. 



regulations, and the conservation of coal lands he hoped to 
open in Alaska, that he never had a chance to win, even acting 
on the square. 

Owing to the inability of this road to pay the United States 
Government tax of $100 a mile each year, it has been closed 
down, and something like 1,000 people in Seward and along 
the line completely put out of business. The road could not 
earn the tax. The receivers for the railroad company offer to 
let the people living in Seward and along the line operate it 
free of rent for tracks and equipment, but the United States 
Government said, "No taxes, no run," and there you are ! No 



46 



OUR COLONIES 



wonder they have been singing all over Alaska the song, 
"Bottled-up Alaska!" The Nome & Seward Peninsula Rail- 
road, the most northerly railway in the world, 104 miles long, 
is not operated by the receivers ; they cannot pay the Govern- 
ment tax. Again, ''Bottled-up Alaska!" 

The Tanana Valley Railroad, forty-five miles in length, 
operates from the Tanana River to Fairbanks, and from Fair- 
banks out to some of the placer creeks. The last receiver has 
paid the Government tax and is trying to put the road in suc- 
cessful shape. Its equipment and tracks when I was there 
were in rather bad condition, and most of the mining camps 
on the line were still largely depending on teams and dogs for 
their freight. The Yakutat Road of twelve miles to the sal- 
mon cannery is little more than a tramway, while the Cook 




VIEW OF A SECTION OF THE BUSTED ALASKA NORTHERN RAILROAD. 



ALASKA 47 

Inlet Road, eight miles in length, and Katalla Road, six miles 
long, have been abandoned. 

The reader now has the history and condition of the 465 
miles of railroads already constructed in Alaska. These rail- 
roads were evidently constructed long before there was really 
anything worth while for them to haul, unless, like the Gug- 
genheims and Morgans, they created their own tonnage by an 
investment many times the cost of building the railroad. 

My theory is, that if Alaska really contains the ore and 
coal to warrant building railroads, and our Government will 
take the "lid off" so that capital can invest with reasonable 
hope of returns, the railroads will follow as a natural result. 
Otherwise, it is my conviction that they should never be con- 
structed just to accommodate and enrich a few people or boom 
a town, at the expense of the people of the entire United 
States.* 

*Note: — Since this chapter on Alaskan railroads was published as 
an article in The Saturday Blade, the United States Congress has 
passed a bill appropriating $35,000,000 to construct a railroad in 
Alaska. What route it will take will depend upon the report of 
engineers now making surveys. Of course, the report of the engi- 
neers upon the several routes will depend upon political promises 
and change in Government, etc., and is an old political scheme to 
evade keeping a political promise. Only $1,000,000 of the $35,000,000 
has thus far been made available, and it is probable that this is 
all the Government will attempt or intends to do. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SEALS AND SALMON. 

A THICK fog. One could see less than 1,000 feet ahead. 
Captain Johnny O'Brien was on the bridge of the 5". S. 
Victoria, known as the "Holy Roller" on account of her con- 
tinuous rolling. We were taking soundings. I stood beside 
the sailor who was letting out the line. He called "Forty-two 
fathoms," then "Nineteen fathoms," and the engine of the ship 
was reversed so suddenly we were nearly thrown off our bal- 
ance. One more ship length — and there would have been 
another "Alaskan shipwreck" to report. 

Captain O'Brien was cautiously sailing a course unknown 
to him. We were off St. Paul Island, the largest of the Great 
Seal Island group, and about 400 miles from the mainland. We 
dropped anchor and remained where we were all night. The 
next morning was clear, and the first day during two weeks a 
landing was possible. We were only a half-mile from shore 
and were rowed in small boats to a rough beach. 

Did you ever own or pay for a sealskin ? Possibly you are 
like the old German to whom a friend said : "Hans, did you 
ever buy a gold brick?" and Hans replied: "No, but I bought 
what I thought was a gold brick." Every skin that looks like 
a sealskin is not genuine. 

The Pribilof Islands, owned by the United States since we 
bought Alaska from Russia, have furnished enough fur-seal 
skins to make several million jackets, coats, muffs, hats and 
gloves. Sealskin is the finest and softest fur that grows on 
any animal, in the water or upon the shore, and is about the 
most expensive. Ninety per cent of all fur-seal skins in the 
world have been taken on a group of four islands in Bering 
Sea, called the Pribilof Islands because they were discovered 

48 



ALASKA 



49 



by a Russian of that name, in 1786. I was eager to visit the 
rookery of the fur-seals on St. Paul Island, as it is the chief 
breeding place of the seal herds. 

If we had full knowledge of the inner history of the United 
States Government's purchase of Alaska, we would find that 
the same Senators who engineered the deal at once busied 
themselves in organizing the Alaskan Commercial Company, 
which was given a monopoly of taking the fur-seals on the 
Pribilof Islands, and anywhere, in fact, that these valuable 
creatures could be found in Alaska. The company was to pay 
to the Government a nominal sum of about one dollar per 
skin and take care of the natives on these islands, but all it 
did was to "skin" the natives, as well as the seals, and bribe 
and fool the poor clerk sent out by the United States to count 
the number of seals killed. The company reported having 
taken and settled with the Government for about 3,500,000 skins 
in forty years. It was estimated that there were 5,000,000 seals 




CAVE NEAR THE LANDING, ST. PAUL ISLAND. 



5o 



OUR COLONIES 



in Alaskan waters when this political "skin corporation" got the 
monopoly from an administration it controlled. Add the 
natural increase in forty years, and there is little doubt that 
15,000,000 male seals, under four years of age, would be more 
nearly the real total number killed than 3,500,000. 

Today there are hardly enough seals left "for seed" — 
only about 100,000 of all sexes, mostly old bulls and 
females. Quite recently the United States Government began 
suit against the heirs of the men who controlled this skin cor- 
poration. In order to throw dust in the eyes of the Govern- 
ment, the corporation claimed that Canada and Japan were 
killing many seals in the open sea. By international agreement 
every country controls and owns the fishing rights within three 




A NATIVE FAMILY, ST. PAUL ISLAND. 



ALASKA 51 

miles of its shore, both mainland and island, but beyond that 
the water is open to the world. Inside and outside the three- 
mile zone it was claimed Canada and Japan took seals, but even 
this right was given up by Great Britain for Canada, doubtless 
because all the sealskins are dyed in London by a process con- 
trolled by a rich monopoly, and this business is worth more to 
Great Britain than a few seals taken by poor Canadian fisher- 
men. It is also true that the Japanese fleet that operates in these 
waters often violates the law and takes the risk of being cap- 
tured. Occasionally the Japs are arrested by a United States 
revenue boat crew and are sent to jail for a few months. That 
is all. 

The United States Government has for the past three years 

" ""' 




A RUSSIAN SWEAT-BATH HOUSE, ST. PAUL ISLAND. 



ALASKA 53 

refused to farm out these islands and has gone into the seal 
business on its own account. In 191 1 we took only 12,000 
seals and realized on them $385,892, or over $32 per skin. 
During the years 1912 and 1913 the Government has killed only 
enough to provide seal meat for the natives who live on the 
islands. The herds are now increasing rapidly, and this 
industry should net the Government over $1,000,000 a year 
when we really begin killing again. 

So much for the history and business side. We will now 
turn to the habits of the seals, for they are peculiarly interest- 
ing creatures. The seals on the Pribilof Islands are all fur- 
seals. Every seal, wherever found, has hair, but this seal has 
a thick fur under the hair. It is the fur that makes the skin 
valuable, the hair being removed in tanning. The hair on the 
adult seals is usually a dark gray. They are known as "sea- 
bear." The males are called "bulls," the females "cows" and 
the young ones "pups." The females live in a harem bossed 
by an old bull, and the other adult males live to themselves and 
are called "bachelors." The place inhabited by seals on the 
shore is called a "rookery," and where they are taken, killed and 
skinned a "fishery." 

The large old bulls have harems of different sizes. I saw 
them with from six to sixty cows. The bulls fight among 
themselves and their greatest concern appears to be in keeping 
their cows from leaving them. During the breeding season, 
and while the offspring are young — June, July and August on 
the Pribilof Islands — the bull never leaves the rookery or his 
harem. He goes without food for three months at a time or, 
as it were, hibernates during the summer as the bear does in 
the winter. It would be a great scheme to cross the seal and 
the bear, and produce an animal that would not need to eat 
during either winter or summer. 

The cow seal gives birth to one pup every year and nurses 
it. She goes to the ocean for food and will remain as long as 
seven days. If she is killed the pup starves to death. Hence 
the killing of a cow always results in two deaths. A big bull 
weighs about 400 pounds and is from six to seven feet in 



ALASKA 55 

length. The weight of a cow seal usually approximates 
eighty pounds and it measures about four feet in length. 

All seals live on fish and squid found in the ocean. The 
correct practice is to kill off all "bachelors" at three years of 
age. Their fur is then in prime condition, and, as they have 
no harem, they live useless lives. The custom on the Pribilof 
Islands has been to drive the bachelors across the island like so 
many sheep to the slaughtering point, where they are simply 
clubbed to death and skinned. The natives, half-breed Rus- 
sians or Indians, are given all they want to eat and the rem- 
nants of the carcasses are buried. It is necessary to drive the 
seals very slowly, as they move in what appears to be short 
jumps, and if the ground is rough or stony they injure the 
skins and the fur. 

One attractive feature of female seal life is the absence of 
old maids, widows, grass widows and unmarried maidens. As 
they are not killed for their skins, they always belong to some 
harem. The seals have their secret. No one knows where 
they go in the winter, or between September and June. They 
disappear from the Pribilofs and return the following summer. 
The educated seals that the public sees in circuses and shows 
are not the fur-seals. They have only hair on their bodies. 
They are the more intelligent. 

Fur-sealing is an industry that should always be conducted 
by the Government or under the strictest Government control, 
if that is possible so far away. The world's next largest 
"rookery" to that on the Pribilof Islands, where fur-seals are 
taken, is off the coast of Uruguay, South America, and is 
handled by the Uruguayan Government very successfully. 

The total market value of the raw fur-seals taken in Alaska 
since the United States bought the country in 1867 is $52,257,- 
135. The total from the salmon and other fishing, up to the 
close of 1912, is given as $167,420,000, or a grand total from 
Alaskan waters since the United States took over the country 
of $219,672,135, while the total value of the gold mined since 
1867 i s $ 2I 3> OI 8>7 I 9> leaving a balance in favor of salmon and 



56 



OUR COLONIES 




AN ALASKAN FISH-WHEEL, ON THE YUKON. 



seals, or fishing, of $6,000,000. Yet, almost every one thinks of 
Alaska as only a cold, gold-producing country. 

Salmon fishing in the North Pacific Ocean has been much 
more profitable and certain of success than gold mining on the 
shore. Few people understand the peculiarities of the salmon. 
They hatch in a fresh-water stream, go to the ocean and remain 
about three years, then come back to the stream in which they 
were born, deposit there their eggs or spawn, and die. They 
do not return to the ocean. No other fish is like the salmon in 
this respect. 

I was much interested in what I was told by Bishop Rowe 
of the Episcopal Church, who is known and loved all over 
Alaska. He considered fishing the chief necessary and per- 
manent industry of Alaska, especially for the poor people and 
natives. He told me that unless the new Territorial Legisla- 
ture passed adequate protective laws, fishing in Alaska had 



ALASKA 



57 




A CANNING FACTORY AT PETERSBURG, ALASKA. 

seen its best days. He related to me how the first Legislature, 
that of the spring of 191 3, had refused to pass a law prohibit- 
ing fishing by setting nets at the mouths of rivers up which the 
salmon go to spawn. He hoped that the next Legislature 
would not be so shortsighted. 

The fishing industry of Alaska is assuming immense pro- 
portions. As an illustration, it may be mentioned that twenty- 
six new salmon-packing establishments were built in 1912, while 
large additions have been made to the fleets engaged in the 
deep sea and whaling industries. 

The salmon industry now extends from Ketchikan in 
southeast Alaska, for a distance of 2,000 miles, following the 
general course of the shore line, to Bristol Bay in Bering Sea, 



58 OUR COLONIES 

and at this time an unknown distance beyond, but not less than 
800 miles, both on the mainland and northwest of Nome and 
the larger islands. Five species of salmon are used commer- 
cially, known respectively as, first, Coho or Silver; second, 
Dog or Cum; third, Humpback or Pink; fourth, King or 
Spring ; fifth, Red or Sockeye. Of these the King is especially 
valuable on account of its large size, as it attains a length of 
four feet and a weight of more than thirty pounds, and the 
Sockeye on account of the deep red color of the flesh, which 
many people fancy is essential as indicating good salmon. 

The halibut fishing is carried on chiefly off the shores of 
the islands of southeast Alaska, the headquarters of the 
industry being Ketchikan and Petersburg. I saw Mr. Forbes, 
editor of Leslie's Weekly, catch a halibut off the Island of St. 
Paul, while waiting for the fog to rise, that weighed over 120 
pounds. The cod banks are located along both the north and 
south shores of the Alaska Peninsula, fourteen curing stations 
being on the Shumagin and neighboring islands. These are 
said to be the most extensive codfishing grounds in the world 
and the catch is only limited by the demand. 

Herring abound in number beyond conception in the waters 
of the southeastern Archipelago, those in the northern waters 
equaling in size and flavor the far-famed Yarmouth bloaters 
of England. They are prepared as food, oil and fertilizer, 
and are the chief bait used in the cod and halibut fisheries. 
Four factories for commercial products are located at Killisnoo 
and other points west and south of Juneau. The Japanese do 
most of the herring fishing, and take their catch to Japan. 

While the several species of fish life which I have mentioned 
furnish the bulk of commercial products, reliable authorities 
state that not less than 250 kinds of edible fish are found in 
Alaskan waters. Trout and grayling abound in almost all the 
lakes and streams and make the territory an angler's paradise. 

A gradual diminishing of the number of Arctic whales, those 
producing whalebone, has followed the radical change to 
modern methods. It is now customary to have a home shore 
station from which small, powerful steamers cruise, killing the 



ALASKA 



59 




DRYING SALMON ON LOWER YUKON 



whales with explosive bombs, inflating them to prevent sinking, 
and towing them to the rendering works on shore. Three 
such stations were under operation in 19 12. 

The value of fish taken and marketed for 1912 was $17,- 
391,000, or only $6,000 less than all the gold mined in Alaska 
for the same year. The investment of all kinds in the fishing 
industry in 191 1 was: In vessels of all kinds, $5,559,534; sea 
fishing apparatus, $27,782 ; shore fishing apparatus, $724,383 ; 
shore property, $7,564,023; cash capital, $8,795,387; the total 
being $22,671,109. Of this sum $19,931,215 was invested in 
the salmon-canning industry. In 19 12 the product was 4,060,- 
189 cases, valued at $15,551,794, canned salmon alone. 

So, you see, Alaska's waters produce both food and (skin) 
clothing in abundance. Nature always takes care of those 
who trust her and do not violate her laws. 



CHAPTER VII. 

FARMING IN ALASKA. 
6 4/"^ OLD is where it is found," is an old and true saying. 
VJ Finding it does not, however, depend on climate, soil, 
elevation or favorable natural conditions. This is not true of 
farming. Agricultural products require congenial surround- 
ings, although through the development of seeds and the 
intelligent handling of soils and crops we are now growing 
grains, fruits and vegetables in many regions of the world 
unthought of heretofore. Man cannot eat gold, timber or 
coal. He must have foodstuff, and if he is to be strong and 
effective, he must have it in abundance and reasonably cheap. 
Before I went to Alaska I was pretty well informed regard- 
ing the gold and fishing and furs and game of that country, 
but was ignorant as to the agricultural possibilities and 
products. After covering thousands of miles and seeing nearly 
every developed spot where anything that grows to be eaten 
was at its best, I am convinced that it is a poor country for farm- 
ers and always will be. Should you succeed in getting a small 
patch cleared up at a place where there was a "boom on," you 
could get fancy prices for one or two years, or until the boom 
was over. Except for the long summers and nightless days 
in Alaska, it would be impossible to grow anything. No 
warmth comes from the soil or from beneath the surface. As 
far down as a shaft has ever been sunk — over 2,000 feet — ice 
is found. This ice was not made by freezing from the top 
downward. For millions of years the country has been built 
up from the bottom, ice upon ice that never thawed out in 
the summer. The thick moss that grows nearly everywhere 
is a complete protection from the sun, and when you sink a 
pick through it you think you have struck rock. Clear off 

60 



ALASKA 61 

this moss, or other vegetation, and scrub timber, and you have 
the frozen earth. The sun will draw out the ice and frost 
from about one foot of soil the first year. Break this up and 
the next year it will thaw out deeper, until after a number of 
years the frost, on account of the long days, will disappear 
from the soil by June ist to a depth of two or three feet. 

Where alfalfa has been tried it turns yellow as soon as the 
roots strike the ice. Of course, with the frost always coming 
out of the ground, you can raise crops where you have only 
a few inches of rainfall in the summer. Interior and north- 
west Alaska is very dry in the summer. Only where the 
Japan Current comes close to the southeast coast and the 
islands do they have much rain. 

In Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russian Siberia, farm- 
ing has been fairly successful in a latitude as far north as most 
of Alaska, and this has given hope to the wish that we might 
make an agricultural country out of our own far Northern 
possession. For many centuries the above-mentioned coun- 
tries have been thickly settled and labor has been very cheap. 
An acre could be cleared at little cost, but that is not the case 
in Alaska, where common labor, employed only a few months 
in the year, receives from $3 to $6 per day of eight hours. It 
costs from $125 to $150 to prepare an acre for the plow. The 
investor expends an amount equal to the total cost per acre 
of first-class farm land near a good market in an old country 
before he begins to raise anything to sell in this region of day- 
less night and nightless day. 

Again, the Government land laws are all against the settler, 
it being practically impossible to secure title to a homestead. 
Little or no land has been surveyed. The investor must make 
a private survey at his own expense, costing from $300 to $700 
for each claim, and take the chances then of the Government 
issuing him a deed. I heard little beside complaints from the 
people who had been led to believe Uncle Sam was willing to 
give them farms in Alaska. Agricultural enterprise in that 
country suggests the reply of a student when asked what were 
the different kinds of farming. He answered, "Extensive, 



62 



OUR COLONIES 




CANTALOUPES ON THE GOVERNMENT FARM AT FAIRBANKS. 



i- ' "'"-? 






Hr» i3r ^^Jl 


ik^u 1 ^- <^4i9Mi 


|^B3f!^' JJ ^ng 



« /^- .-Ml 



GROWING STRAWBERRIES, U. S. GOVERNMENT FARM, STTKA. 



ALASKA 63 

intensive, expensive and pretensive." The two latter defini- 
tions apply particularly to farming in Alaska. 

It is possible, however, that the industrious, plodding for- 
eigner from the far North countries of Europe and Asia can 
work out something, in the next century, in this land. I will 
quote the United States homestead law on proving up. Each 
homesteader may take 320 acres. Here is how he can prove 
it up. 

"That at least one-eighth of the area embraced in the 
entry was continuously cultivated to agricultural crops, other 
than native grasses, beginning with the second year of entry ; 
and that at least one-fourth of the area embraced in the whole 
entry was so continuously cultivated with the third year of 
entry." 

Under this law not a whole claim of 320 acres has yet 
been lawfully proved up in Alaska. One-fourth of 320 acres 
is 80 acres; at a cost of $125 an acre to put in the first crop, 
the farmer would have invested $10,000 in clearing the land — 
the price of a good Iowa farm. As I previously stated, it is 
impossible for Washington, D. C, to legislate for Alaska. 
Congress cannot enact wise legislation for a country so far 
away. 

Agriculture in Alaska, at its best, should follow as an 
adjunct to other occupations. Methods suitable in one part 
of the country may be unsuitable in others. Bottom lands 
producing a rank growth of grass may be too cold and sour 
for root crops, until thoroughly broken up and cultivated so 
as to let in the air and assist decomposition of the dead vege- 
tation, which takes place but slowly in ground saturated with 
water. Where drainage is absent or very imperfect the result 
is swampy ground, known in the North as tundra, or mus- 
keg, in which the dead vegetation, instead of being trans- 
formed into soil through the process of decay, is slowly 
converted into peat, or turf, as it is called in Ireland, to become 
in time an imperfect coal. The best lands are the gently 
sloping hills composed of silt and fine gravel, which are also 
those on which the birch makes its best growth, these lands 



64 OUR COLONIES 

having been enriched by the leaves of the deciduous trees and 
drained of standing water. 

It should be clearly understood that for the present, at 
least, farming must partake more or less of the character of 
market gardening around the mining centers, gradually expand- 
ing as these industries grow; remembering also that on those 
things which can be grown in Alaska, but if not grown in 
Alaska must be imported, the cost of transportation will be 
added to the price the farmer receives. 

Northwestern Canada is giving free land, free seeds and 
financial assistance during the first year, where such aid is 
wanted. In contrast with these inducements, it seems to be 
our policy to burden the settlers with conditions almost pro- 
hibitive in some respects, shutting out many who might other- 
wise become good and valuable citizens. Certainly our policy 
has sent many hundreds to countries with more liberal ideas 
and a better understanding of the early years of pioneer life. 

C. C. Georgeson, superintendent of the agricultural experi- 
ment stations in Alaska, is a six-foot-two native of Denmark, 
big of body and big of mind. He came from a cold country. 
Previous to his employment in Alaska he was connected with 
agricultural colleges in the States of Kansas, Minnesota and 
Washington. The Japanese Government also employed him 
to put its agricultural schools on a scientific basis, and Japan 
never engages any but the best experts. If anything can be 
made out of farming in Alaska, Superintendent Georgeson 
will bring it about. He established the first experimental 
station at Sitka twelve years ago. He now has stations at 
Rampart and Fairbanks. He was successful in raising cattle 
on Kodiak Island until a volcanic eruption covered the island 
with ash and destroyed the grass. He had about one hundred 
head of pure Galloway cattle, and this hardy Scotch breed 
was doing well until he was compelled to ship them to the 
State of Washington, as he found it was cheaper to ship 
cattle to the hay than the hay to the cattle. The grass is 
growing again on Kodiak Island and erelong the herd will 
be returned. When I was there he was planning the bring- 



ALASKA 



65 




A DAIRY AT FAIRBANKS, ALASKA. 

ing in of a bull yak from Tibet, in northern China, and 
crossing with very hardy breeds of cattle, with the hope of 
producing stock that will live outdoors all winter in Alaska 
without hay or feed being furnished. 

Superintendent Georgeson told me that the only thing that 
interfered with successful sheep raising was the big brown 
bears, so plentiful on the island. Nevertheless, he had a rather 
large flock of sheep and had imported two rams, a Lincoln and 
Cotswold. The volcanic ash, however, weighed down their 
wool so heavily they could not get up and they died. The 
sheep of his flock preferred to feed on the mountain sides and 
only needed hay in January, February and March. 

His horses were doing well. You must remember, how- 
ever, that Kodiak Island is quite a favored spot and the climate 
there is tempered by the warm Japan Current. All over Alaska 
one finds an abundance of wild grass, "red top," suitable for 
wild hay, and there is no doubt but that, in time, a breed of 
6 



66 



OUR COLONIES 



cattle, sheep and horses will be developed sufficiently hardy 
to take care of themselves and supply the home market, and 
sufficient oats and hay will be raised to feed them through the 
long winter months 

The Government has agricultural farms at Rampart and 
Fairbanks as well as at Sitka. The two first-named points are 
in the interior — near the Arctic Circle — where from the first, 
or middle, of May until the first of August there is practically 
no night. The sun does not disappear below the horizon on 
an average of over one and a half hours per day during these 
three months. This is equal to an average of nearly five 
months of sunshine and daylight during a period of three 




THE SPOTLESS CABIN OF C. H. AN WAY, HAINES, ALASKA. MR. 
ANWAY IS A BACHELOR AND ALSO A STRAWBERRY KING. 



ALASKA 



67 



'- 



months. I observed very little difference between the experi- 
mental crops of these three widely separated stations. If 
there was any superiority it seemed in favor of the interior 
farms, although they have only about twelve inches of rainfall 
in a season. The frost coming out of the ground continuously 
during the summer season, of course, furnishes moisture. 
The grains raised are oats, barley, wheat and rye. The wheat 

and rye should be 
put in during the 
autumn, and, if 
there is a good fall 
of snow, they are 
sure to do well and 
mature. Sometimes 
the oats and barley 
sown in May are 
caught by the early 
frosts, but are 
worth almost as 




much for forage as 
if matured. Potatoes 
do well all over 
Alaska, and the mar- 
ket, in the interior, at 
least, is supplied by 
h o m e-grown tubers. 
It is estimated that 
every acre planted to 
potatoes, in the right 
kind of ground and 



RHUBARB GROWING ON THE CLARK VEGE- 
TABLE FARM, NEAR SKAGWAY. 



68 OUR COLONIES 

properly cared for, produces a crop that sells for $600. As 
farming this, in a sense, is specializing. What I have said 
derogatory to the chances of successful agriculture in Alaska, 
of course, is meant to imply that the chances are not large and 
sure as with the extensive farming that prevails in the United 
States. 

Strawberries grow everywhere in Alaska. Usually a hardy 
tame variety is crossed with the wild strawberry and does very 
well. If the growers would do as J. W. Banbury, publisher 
of the Indiana Daily Times (a friend of mine), who owns 
a ranch in Idaho, claims to do, cross them again with the 
milkweed, they might get strawberries and cream from the 
same plant. Gooseberries thrive and blueberries are very 
plentiful. I was eager to try the salmon berries, but did 
not like them. Wild currants grow in every part of the coun- 
try. Raspberries are also plentiful. An attempt is being 
made to grow apples, cherries and plums at Sitka, with indif- 
ferent success. Rhubarb is grown successfully, in some regions 
reaching a height of six feet. The cabbage is one of Alaska's 
most important vegetables. 

In addition to potatoes and cabbage, cauliflower, peas, let- 
tuce and radishes are raised in quantities sufficient to supply 
home consumption. Our steamer on leaving Fairbanks took 
on board for our use during the trip to St. Michael $500 
worth of vegetables from one farm. I was curious to know 
what the chickens of Alaska would do about "going to bed," 
when there was no night in the summer, and about their "get- 
ting up" in the winter, when there is no day. I observed, 
however, that at about the usual hour, 7 p. m., the old rooster 
flapped his wings and flew up on the roost, the hens following, 
and at about five in the morning he crowed and all flew down 
again. I was informed they repeated this in the winter time 
at approximately the same hours, all of which are good 
examples of the influence of heredity and the force of habit. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

INTERIOR ALASKA. 

WHEN I say Interior Alaska, I mean that portion made 
accessible by navigating the great rivers and their 
tributaries. It is possible, during four or five months of each 
year, to navigate with shallow-draft steamers some 3,000 miles 
of Alaska's rivers, and, by pushing and pulling boats up or 
around the rapids and shallows of side streams, approximately 
2,000 miles more. These water courses furnish the only prac- 
tical means of transportation for heavy goods or machinery to 
the interior, because they are open as long as people can work 
comfortably out of doors. 

"The Klondike and Dawson!" Because involuntarily 
almost every one mentally associates these with Alaska, it 
seems proper to give them a place here. "The Klondike!" 
These were magic words in 1897, and the excitement and results 
they produced will go down in history with the famous gold 
rush to California in 1849. ^ n the minds of many the Klon- 
dike is thought to be a part of Alaska. It is not. It is the 
name applied to the gold-mining section of the Yukon Terri- 
tory, which belongs to Canada. The dividing line is at the 
mountain summit called White Pass. This point also is the 
watershed ; the waters flowing north and east go into the 
Yukon River, and those flowing south and west enter the 
Pacific Ocean. 

Here one finds at the international boundary line an Ameri- 
can and a Canadian customhouse. Here also we find Canadian 
Northwest mounted police — known the world over for their 
bravery and honesty. It is said that no criminal ever escapes 
them and justice is quickly dealt, as well as assistance given to 
the poor unfortunate wayfarer. 

The rails of the White Pass & Yukon Railway end at 

69 



;o 



OUR COLONIES 



L^SM 




SpST 


- ,., - 


,* 








+ 4 4* 


K^ 


■ ■■-„ ... 




i 9 


' 'v.jj~ 


Wmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 











VIEW OF WHITE HORSE, ON THE 

White Horse, just below the White Horse Rapids. Many 
lives were lost in running these rapids before there was a rail- 
road here. The waters are very swift and many dangerous 
bowlders and rocks project from the bottom of the river. 
White Horse is the head of navigation on what is practically 
the Yukon River. Above the rapids another line of steamers 
will carry you 600 or 700 miles southeast in the Yukon Terri- 
tory for a few months in the summer. From White Horse to 
Dawson, a distance of 300 miles, the Yukon River is much 
more picturesque than from Dawson to the point where it 
empties into the Bering Sea. 

We stopped at a coal mine on the Yukon, where we picked 
up a barge loaded with 300 tons of coal. This barge was 
pushed ahead of us down the river to Dawson, a distance of 
some 300 miles, the boat company charging $2 a ton for the 
service. The coal was rather a poor quality. 

Dawson, the seat of the original rush to Alaska and the 
Klondike, has today a population of about 3,000, while at one 



ALASKA 



7i 




YUKON RIVER, IN THE KLONDIKE. 



time it had 15,000. The day has gone by when the sporty 
placer miner "sands" the floor with gold dust for the dancing 
girl, which was not an uncommon practice at a time when 
placer miners were taking out over $1,000 a day from a single 
claim. However, the day for high prices has not gone by, the 
smallest coin in circulation being a 25-cent piece. Even at the 
postoffice when you buy one stamp they will give you twelve 
2-cent stamps or no change. The newspapers sell for 25 cents 
a copy. Still, as a contradiction to this, good beef was selling 
at 25 cents per pound, live cattle being brought in from western 
Canada and slaughtered at Dawson. 

As for the gravel deposits from which came the stores of 
gold which made the Klondike famous, they were first dis- 
covered in the creek bottoms where the seasoned prospector 
always conducts his first explorations. It was not until the 
work in the creek bottoms was well under way, and the creek 
claims were producing their millions, that the discovery was 
made that high upon the hills a deposit of gravel existed which, 



72 



OUR COLONIES 




COAL MINE ON THE YUKON RIVER, ABOVE DAWSON. 



in a great many places, was as rich in gold as the creek beds 
themselves. The discovery of these higher-level deposits, now 
known as the "White Channel," is generally attributed to a 
novice who knew no better than to climb a hill to locate a 
placer claim. As the discoveries followed one after another 
on the various hills, it was soon found that a large channel of 
gravel existed, following the general course of the present 
streams but high above them, at elevations ranging from 150 
feet at the upper end of the hill deposits to 300 feet and over 
at the lower end. Thousands of miners were soon swarming 
upon the hills, sinking shafts, driving tunnels and taking out 
the gold-bearing materials as rapidly as their co-laborers were 
in the creek bottoms. 



ALASKA 



73 




A DREDGE ON LOWER BONANZA, DAWSON DISTRICT. 




THAWING OUT GROUND WITH STEAM BEFORE DREDGING. 



74 OUR COLONIES 

But these high elevations were waterless, and the placer 
miner can do nothing without water. The small quantity of 
snow melting in the springtime enabled him to wash but a very 
limited yardage of gravel and sand that he took out in the 
winter. 

Then the great Yukon Gold Company, organized by the 
Guggenheims, brought a pipe-line five feet in diameter from a 
lake sixty-five miles distant, at a cost of $4,000,000, to supply 
water for hydraulic purposes in washing down the hills and 
leaving the gold in the sluice-boxes. The amount of gold 
that this company takes out annually is somewhat of an 
unknown quantity, although it is estimated by practical miners 
to be about $2,000,000 per annum, and there are millions of 
cubic yards of sand and gravel yet to be washed down. 
Although this section of the Yukon Territory is almost inside 
the Arctic Circle they are able to work dredges and hydraulic 
placer claims over 200 days in the year. 

When the creek bottoms ceased to pay the hand placer 
miner the great dredges stepped in, and today the Canadian 
Gold Mining Company has five dredges. Three of these 
dredges have a capacity of 14,000 yards of gravel and .sand a 
day, and average 10,000 cubic yards, including the daily stop 
to clean up. It requires only eleven men to operate one of 
the dredges, three men on each shift and two foremen, one 
night and one day. Everything is operated by electricity. The 
sand and gravel they wash runs about thirty cents to the cubic 
yard. 

One of the interesting processes in mining I found at Daw- 
son is that of thawing out the frozen ground. They drive 
steam pipes down into the ground and then turn on the live 
steam. The ground. never thaws out more than a foot or so in 
the summer time and it would be impossible to do placer 
mining without the aid of steam in preparing the sand and 
gravel for the miner. 

When our boat arrived at the dock at Dawson we were met 
by Commissioner George Black, Mrs. Black, and some of their 
friends. The Commissioner of Yukon Territory holds a similar 



7 6 



OUR COLONIES 




AWAITING THE ARRIVAL OF TOURIST STEAMER AT DAWSON, 
ON THE YUKON. 

position to that occupied by the Governor of one of the United 
States Territories. Mrs. Boyce and I were invited to remain 
at Commissioner Black's residence as their guests, especially 
for the reason that Mrs. Black was from Chicago and glad to 
see some one from home. So were we. That night Com- 
missioner Black celebrated the coming in of the Fourth of 
July, which was the following day, with the same demonstration 
that would have attended a similar function in the United 
States. Many firecrackers were exploded, sounding natural, 
although the skyrockets did not show up well in the all-night 
daylight, but we fired them off just the same. We could 
hardly realize that we were under the Canadian Jack instead 
of the Stars and Stripes. 

After leaving the Yukon Territory and spending some time 
in Alaska, the difference in the character of government fur- 
nished the people was very marked, and in talking with many 



ALASKA 



77 



Alaskans the unanimous expression was in favor of the enforce- 
ment of our laws with the same rapidity and fairness that 
prevails in the Yukon Territory. Dawson should remain the 
best interior town in either the Yukon Territory or Alaska. 

In 1898, one of my newspapers, The Saturday Blade, 
financed an expedition to dredge for gold on the Yukon River 
and its side streams. The Dawson boom was then at fever 
heat. Ildo Ramsdell, for years in charge of the art depart- 
ment of The Saturday Blade, was made captain of the expedi- 
tion. A specially constructed boat and dredging outfit was 
shipped, in the knock-down, to St. Michael, where it was put 
together, and proudly steamed for the mouth of the Yukon 
River. As this river has probably one hundred mouths, it 
apparently took the expedition all summer to decide which one 




FRONT STREET, DAWSON. 



78 OUR COLONIES 

to go through. By that time the prunes and rice had been 
consumed and the river was frozen up, and all but three of the 
fourteen in the party deserted and "cold-footed it" back across 
the country to St. Michael. Captain Ramsdell and two others, 
however, stuck to the ship, or rather, the ship froze to them, 
and they remained until the next summer, when they traded the 
machinery of the ship for moose meat and also walked out. 
Two years later I heard from Captain Ramsdell in Montana. 
While in Alaska his feet had been frozen. My newspaper had 
promised its readers many thrilling stories and wonderful 
photographs of the gold fields. The "fall down" was so dis- 
tinct we still hear echoes of it. This is the first time the story 
has ever been told, and, I have to confess, not a photograph 
or even a camera ever reached us from Alaska. Captain 
Ramsdell said it was so cold that when he shot the 50-100 
Winchester rifle I gave him, so much ice congealed inside the 
gun that he could not shoot it again until he had melted the ice 
out. 

Fifteen years passed before I concluded to investigate 
Alaska personally. Then I decided to begin at the source of 
the Yukon, as I might thus be able to get down the river before 
it froze up and bring home photographs and a description of 
the country. So I started in on Alaska Territory from Eagle, 
the northeastern port of entry, which is 1,700 miles from the 
mouth of the Yukon. Except for a customhouse and wire- 
less station, and the caretaker of a million-dollar abandoned 
fort, Eagle would not be on the map. It is on the boundary 
line between Canada and Alaska. The United States Govern- 
ment finished the million-dollar fort in 1900 and occupied it 
only one year. This is an example of the way the Govern- 
ment has squandered money in Alaska, and will, while it 
continues to be extravagantly and inefficiently represented 
in this distant Territory. Had the million dollars been 
spent on the natural transportation routes — the rivers — it 
would have been of practical benefit to miner and settler. 

The next point of importance one reaches in descending the 
Yukon River is Fort Yukon, northwest 300 miles from Eagle, 



ALASKA 



79 



This town is within the Arctic Circle, being 67 degrees north 
latitude. For one month of the year the sun never sets. I 
took splendid photographs at midnight. Fort Yukon is a very 
old trading point, and was once in the hands of the British 
Hudson Bay Company. At one time it almost caused a war 
between Russia and Great Britain. Historically, and in many 
other respects, Fort Yukon was the most interesting point, to 
me, in Alaska. The Wells Fargo Express Company has an 
office there ; in fact, this company does all the express business 





EtJ 



A BIG MOOSE HEAD AT MINER S CABIN, FORT YUKON. 



of Alaska, as well as operating 77,000 miles of railway in the 
United States. At Fort Yukon I interviewed an old Indian 
trapper. He had recently sold a silver- fox skin for $600. He 
had bought two sewing machines and eight clocks and had 
them all in his one-room cabin, and was debating what to do 
with the balance of the money. 

From Fort Yukon we passed on down the river 243 miles to 



80 OUR COLONIES 

Rampart, an abandoned mining camp. Some mining is done 
in the interior and the supplies are still taken in from this 
river port. Two interesting characters lived at Rampart in 
1897. One was ex-Sheriff McGraw of Seattle, who had practi- 
cally "skipped" the State of Washington on account of the 
defalcation of one of his employes. He found a paying placer 
mine near Rampart, sold it for $27,000, then returned to 
Seattle, paid his debts and was afterward elected Governor 
of Washington. He was always considered an honest man. 
The other character referred to is Rex Beach, the author. I 
took a photograph of a deserted cabin, said to have been 
occupied by him. I asked an old timer if Mr. Beach had once 
lived in that cabin. His answer was, "Possibly so, or in some 
cabin around here." I asked what Beach had "worked at" 
when in Rampart, and he replied : "Mostly at carpenter work." 

They tell a story characteristic of justice in the early days 
of Rampart. A tough youth, charged with firing his revolver 
in the crowded street, was brought into court. 

"Twenty dollars and costs," said the magistrate. 

"But, your honor, I did not hit any one," protested the 
young man, "I fired into the air." 

"Twenty dollars and costs," firmly repeated the justice. 
"You might have hit an angel. Besides, this court needs the 
money." 

Across the river from Rampart an experimental agricul- 
tural station has been established and is quite a success. At this 
station supplies are received once a year. It was in midsum- 
mer that I was there, and packages containing presents for the 
following, or possibly the past, Christinas were delivered from 
the boat on which I arrived. 

Three hundred and twenty-five miles down the river from 
Rampart we docked at Tanana, where a river of the same 
name flows into the Yukon. Here the Government has built 
Fort Gibbon, costing another million dollars, and keeps some 
soldiers. This fort, being located at a more central point, is 
a place of shelter for stranded prospectors and miners. There 
is no possible actual use for any soldiers, as the Alaskan Indian 



ALASKA 



81 



is as harmless as a dog and never did make any trouble for us. 
The chief business of the inhabitants of Tanana seemed to be 
that of running saloons and supplying "booze" to the United 
States soldiers. 

One of the tributaries of the Yukon River is the Tanana 
River. Fairbanks, the most important town in Alaska except 
Juneau, the capital, is at the head of navigation for large 
boats on the Tanana River. It took us over two days to go 
350 miles upstream, owing to the many sandbars. Fairbanks 
is the center of a placer-mining district and in the past has 
been quite prosperous. At present it has about 2,500 popula- 
tion, having had at one time about 5,000. Several rich quartz 
properties have been discovered in the region, though the 
extent of the ledges so far is unknown, but the prospects for 
Fairbanks being a permanent town are undoubtedly good. In 
order to supply transportation to this town all the year around 




THE WATERFRONT AT FAIRBANKS. 



OUR COLONIES 




A WELLS FARGO STAGE STARTING FROM CHITINA TO FAIRBANKS. 

and open up some coal fields, the United States Government 
proposes spending some fifty million dollars in the construc- 
tion of a railroad. I suggested to the people at Fairbanks that 
it would be better for them to persuade the Government to 
take the interest on the investment, together with the wear 
and tear and loss in operating a fifty-million-dollar railroad to 
serve a few thousand people, and give a pension of $1,500 a 
year to each man, woman and child, instead of building them 
a railroad. 

In the vicinity of Fairbanks some farming has been devel- 
oped which pays, owing to the very high price of agricultural 
products and green stuff. The Government agricultural 
experiment station at Fairbanks, however, did not seem to be 
doing so well as those at Sitka and Rampart. It was said the 
rainfall had been only eight inches for the season in which I 
was there. When our boat left Fairbanks over one thousand 
idle men came down to see us off. I was informed that there 



ALASKA 



83 



is employment only two or three months of the year for men 
in this section of Alaska. Wages approximate six dollars a 
day, but the cost of living is in proportion. It was near Fair- 
banks that a celebrated bishop of Alaska was held up by a 
highwayman. The bishop tells the story on himself. After 
he had been relieved of his purse he informed the highwayman 
that he was the bishop of a certain denomination. The high- 
wayman handed back his purse, exclaiming, "My God, bishop, 
I belong to that church myself !" 

We returned down the Tanana River to Fort Gibbon, 
where we were transferred from the steamer Yukon to the 
old river steamer Sarah, the most uncomfortable, dirtiest and 
poorest boat I have ever been aboard on any water or in any 
country in the world. In addition to everything else she was 
a perfect firetrap, and it is said that the company that owns 




THE TOWN OF RUBY, THE NEWEST CAMP ON THE YUKON. 



84 



ALASKA 



this line got $250,000 out of the United States Government 
for river tonnage tax in eight years, while Colonel Richardson, 
who represented Uncle Sam, was in authority. We dropped 
down the river 175 miles from Fort Gibbon to Ruby, one 
of the newest boom towns in Alaska. There never has been 
any mining in the immediate vicinity of Ruby; it has only 
been a distributing center for some placer mines in the interior. 
The town, only a few years old, had apparently seen its best 
days and seemed on the decline. In looking over the place I 
was reminded of the story of the traveling man in an Arkansas 
village who asked a local merchant what they did to pass the 
time. The answer was, "We skin strangers." The traveling 
man then asked, "What do you do when there are no 
strangers?" The merchant replied, "We skin each other." 
That was the chief occupation of the inhabitants of Ruby, as 
near as I could ascertain. However, there were a number of 
very enterprising trappers, some of the ex-prospectors, who 

lived in the de- 
I serted cabins in the 
summer and out 
with the Indians in 
the winter, buying 
and trading with 




them for their furs. 
Leaving Ruby, we 
steamed down the 
river to Anvik, an 
old mission town, 
where a tributary 
enters the Yukon. 
Upon one side of the 
river running into 



INDIAN VILLAGES ON YUKON RIVER. 



ALASKA 




NATIVE CHILDREN AT HOLY CROSS MISSION. 




HOLY CROSS MISSION, ON THE YUKON. 



86 OUR COLONIES 

the Yukon lived the Christian Indians, belonging to the church, 
and on the other side were the Siwash Indians, who were still 
heathen. I observed that the Indians who were not cared for 
by the missionaries had great quantities of dried salmon, while 
the Indians who were with the church did not feel the necessity 
of providing themselves with a winter's supply of fish. Appar- 
ently they were satisfied that "the Lord would provide." 

From Anvik to the mouth of the Yukon we made a num- 
ber of stops, but the places we visited hardly justify separate 
descriptions, since they were really only repetitions of nearly all 
towns on the river, which, for the most part, consisted of one 
log store with a big cloth sign, another general store and saloon 
combined, some fish being smoked on racks, dogs tied to stakes, 
white trappers sitting by themselves, a number of Indian wom- 
en with half-breed babies, and several lonely graves. 




COLONEL W. P. RICHARDSON, WHO 
HAS HAD CHARGE OF GOVERN- 
MENT WORK IN ALASKA. 



CHAPTER IX. 



COAST TOWNS OF ALASKA. 

THE natural port from which to sail for Alaska, and from 
which to supply the Alaskan trade, is Seattle. A number 
of boats sail every week in the year as far north as Skagway 
and Seward. Often these are vessels that have seen better 
days on the Atlantic Ocean, and have deteriorated to a point 
where the insurance companies will no longer insure them for 
the rough waters of the Atlantic, and are sent around to the 
smooth waters of the Pacific, where the companies will again 
take the risk of insuring them. During the year in which 
I sailed to, and returned from, Alaska, five of these old ships 
were wrecked, with considerable loss of life. At no place in 

the world have I seen so many 
wrecked vessels as were beached on 
the shores of Alaska. It is im- 
practicable to apply our marine 
laws to the boats making Alaskan 
ports on account of the conditions 
being so entirely different. It would 
save many lives and hundreds of 
thousands of dollars if our Govern- 
ment would chart the bottom of the 
inland sea that leads to Alaska, in- 
stead of wasting big sums of money 
in surveying routes for impossible 
railroads that will never be con- 
structed. 

Metlakatla, a thousand miles up 
the coast from Seattle and the first 
point one touches in Alaska, is one 
of the most interesting places I 




FATHER DUNCAN, THE GRAND 

OLD MAN. 



s; 



88 OUR COLONIES 

visited while in our Northern possession. It is a one-white- 
man-and- 1, 500- Indian island. The white man is Father Dun- 
can, and he is both the spiritual and temporal ruler of the 
town and island. He came out as a missionary from England 
over sixty years ago and began work with the Indians in 
British Columbia. He did not like the laws or conditions in 
British Columbia, so he petitioned Uncle Sam to let him use 
this island, to which he moved his Indian followers and where 
he has conducted his work and lived his life in his own way. 
He was formerly a tanner by trade, had good Scottish com- 
mercial ideas, and has demonstrated what really can be done 
with the Indian when in honest, competent hands. The chief 
industry of the island is fishing. All business is carried on 
in Father Duncan's name for the benefit of the community, 
and the cost of maintaining the schools and church, local gov- 
ernment, fire department and local improvements is paid by 
him. Father Duncan is now over eighty-five years of age, 



y 7 ■'£ 

w ml i 

"#4 J -*^ 


laWMWf^ *P^MJshr JgVvw* '**& ^T - " >v F <SMB 


■■Hi " 1 n I I Kittli 



EXCURSION PARTY ON STEPS OF FATHER DUNCAN S CHURCH AT 
METLAKATLA. 



ALASKA 



89 




Church of Metiakatuv 

Built By The Natives ; 







and it is a serious question as to what will become of the 
Indians when he dies, as there seems to be no strong character 
in sight to take his place. 

I asked an Indian what denomination or creed they be- 
longed to. He said the only creed they had was the Bible. 
He did not know what the word creed or denomination meant. 
That is typical of Father Duncan. He has taught the life of 
Christ without partiality. A few years ago some politicians 
wished to reorganize the island and place it exclusively under 
United States laws as to schools, government, etc. Father 
Duncan stated that he had $80,000 in the bank at Seattle, and 
owned all the industries, but was willing to turn over legally 
everything he had in the world to his Indian followers, if the 



90 



OUR COLONIES 




A GENERAL VIEW OF 




GENERAL VIEW OF JUNEAU, 



ALASKA 



9i 




KETCHIKAN AND ITS HARBOR. 






THE CAPITAL OF ALASKA. 



Q2 



OUR COLONIES 



meddlers would not disturb 
him in his school or church 
work as long as he lived. He 
is a strange, genuine, wonder- 
ful old man, and everything 
he does rings true. 

The real commercial me- 
tropolis of southeastern Alas- 
ka is Ketchikan, a bustling 
town of over 2,000 popula- 
tion. Again, salmon fishing 
is the chief source of revenue, 
although some quartz mines 
have been developed near this 
point. The local newspaper 
was doing well — which is the 
best evidence of a live com- 
munity. 

The next port north at 
which we stopped was Wran- 
gell, which has a population of 
800. We arrived after 10 p. m. 
and here I had my first ex- 
perience in taking photographs 
that late in the evening. At one 
time it was quite an important 
point where miners left for 
the Klondike or the northern 
Canadian interior. Many 
good stories were told by old 
miners of what Wrangell had 
been when it was a "wide- 
open" town. Here, also, I 
was introduced to my first 
totem pole. They hope to de- 
velop a good water power 
here and establish a pulp and 
paper mill, if the conservation 




ALASKA 



93 



regulations of the United States Government will permit 
them to develop their local resources. There is a large 
quantity of spruce and pine in the vicinity suitable for pulp 
wood. When I was there the tide was out and the beach was 
covered with crabs and the smell of dead fish and refuse from 
the canneries was everywhere. There are many nice people 
living in Wrangell for whom one cannot help feeling sorry. 
The Stikine River comes in at this point, furnishing splendid 
salmon fishing during the season. 

Petersburg, our next stop north, is headquarters for halibut 
fishing. Large canneries have been established there. They 
also have a sawmill which runs the year around. The best 
time for halibut fishing is during the winter months. Much 
of the halibut served in Chicago and New York hotels comes 
from Alaskan waters. In a single day over 1,000,000 pounds 
of halibut has been landed on the docks at Seattle from Alaska. 
The population of Petersburg is about 1,000. 

The next port north is Juneau, the new capital of Alaska. 




THE GOVERNOR S MANSION AT JUNEAU. 










' 



■ ;* flK 



ALASKA 95 

The old capital was Sitka. Juneau was the only town I visited 
in Alaska that was really booming; it has a population of about 
4,000. The first Legislature of Alaska met at Juneau in the 
winter of 19 12- 13. While in conversation with a prominent 
lawyer here, Judge Jennings, I remarked that he bore the same 
name as a friend of mine, Charlie Jennings, who was a good 
poker player, and I hinted that perhaps he was also skilled in 
the game. His laconic reply was : "Yes, what I make playing 
poker I lose practicing law." 

After the port of the great Treadwell mine, which I de- 
scribed in the chapter on mining, the next town of importance 
up this coast is Haines. Fort William H. Seward is located 
here, with a detachment of soldiers. Chilkat River enters the 
sea at this point, and the Indian reservation of the same name 
is located up the river. Here the Government erected good 
buildings for the Indians, who promptly abandoned them, and 
the buildings are now falling into ruin. This is a fairly good 
agricultural country for some miles around. The cleanest 
cabin I was in while in Alaska, spotlessly clean in this instance, 
was owned and occupied by C. H. Anway. (See picture on 
page 66.) He is growing rich selling strawberries. The only 
thing he seemed to lack was a wife. I covered the country 
around Haines in an automobile, finding the region level and 
the roads good. The snow-capped mountain scenery is truly 
magnificent. The officers and their families at the fort afford 
considerable society for the community. 

Skagway is no doubt remembered by readers as the point 
from which miners in 1897-98 worked their way, through 
almost indescribable hardships and difficulties, across White 
Pass into Yukon Territory during the Dawson placer-mining 
boom, with this town as the base of supplies. Near this place 
I saw a lonely grave at the foot of a tree, on which had been 
carved a cross marking the grave of a prospector, who com- 
mitted suicide after he had lost for the third time his complete 
outfit in trying to get across the Pass. He left a note in which 
he had written : "H — 1 cannot be worse than this ; I'll take a 
chance." 



9 6 



OUR COLONIES 



'^ 



Skagway at one time had a population of 5,000 or 6,000. 
It now has possibly 2,000. It is the head of navigation, and the 
terminus of the White Pass & Yukon Railroad. Many stories, 
both dramatic and humorous, are told about this town, when 
every other building was a saloon and dance house and gam- 
bling joint. One narrative, I remember, was that of a certain 
tenderfoot who one day came rushing in headlong flight around 
the corner of a building and bumped into the sheriff. The 
sheriff grabbed the frightened fellow and yelled angrily : 

"Where are you running to and what's the matter?" 

"I am trying to keep two men from getting into a fight," 
panted the tenderfoot. 

"Who are the men ?" demanded the sheriff. 

"I am one of them !" gasped the tenderfoot and fainted. 

Coming back southwest from Skagway we reached Sitka, 
the old Russian and American capital of Alaska, which I 





VIEW OF THE TOWN OF 



ALASKA 



97 



described in a previous chapter. Here we left the "inside 
passage," and sailed for Cordova, 350 miles northwest of 
Sitka. This town, situated on a good harbor, impresses one 
as having a future of considerable importance, owing especially 
to the great copper and gold mines possible to reach through 
the only real railroad in Alaska, the Copper River & North- 
western, which starts here, running 196 miles northeast. It is 
owned and operated by the Guggenhelms and the Morgans, as 
I have previously mentioned, to get out the ore from their 
great Bonanza copper mine at Kennecott. A branch of this 
road is the most natural outlet for the great coal fields located 
about 200 miles from the coast. When I was in Cordova 
there were but few men left in the region, owing to the latest 
placer-mining strike at Shushana, accessible from the terminus 
of the Copper River & Northwestern Railway. Cordova, built 
on the side of a mountain, is very picturesque. Two vast 




!§,„,: ... 

8 SITKA AND ITS HARBOR. 



9 8 



OUR COLONIES 




GENERAL VIEW OF THE 




A BIRD S-EYE VIEW 



ALASKA 



99 






TOWN OF VALDEZ, ALASKA. 






OF SEWARD, ALASKA. 



IOO 



OUR COLONIES 



glaciers, the Childs and the Miles, are located forty miles up 
the Copper River from here. 

Prince William Sound, on Alaska's central southern coast, 
affords a great and well-protected harbor. Cordova is on the 
southeast shore of the Sound and Valdez is on the northeast, 
only about forty miles as the crow flies, but ioo miles by water 
and almost impossible to reach by land, owing to the many 
glaciers. Valdez is at the end of the Government trail from 
Fairbanks. People here told me that Colonel Richardson, at 
the head of the Government Improvement Department in 
Alaska, has spent $2,000,000 on a trail between Valdez and 
Fairbanks, less than 400 miles away, and except in winter, 
when you can go any place in Alaska on ice and snow, it is a 
mighty poor trail. It is the same old condition of politics and 
favoritism under which poor pioneer settlers are imposed upon. 
A part of Valdez is wet during several months in the summer 
as the result of the seepage of water from a glacier. The 
United States Government made an appropriation of $50,000 
to protect the town. The "protection," which I saw and pho- 
tographed, consisted of some brush placed on the ground and 
bowlders piled on top to keep it there. It is a signal example 
of where the people's money goes in Alaska. Valdez has a 
population of approximately 2,000. 

Latouche is on an island of the same name, 100 miles from 
Valdez on the northwest corner of Prince William Sound. 




DUTCH HARBOR ON 



ALASKA 



101 



There is nothing there but a copper mine of very low-grade ore, 
running from 2^ to 5 per cent. I was informed that this ore 
is carried for practically nothing, as ballast for ships, to the 
smelters in the State of Washington. 

There was a time when it looked as if Seward, seventy 
miles west of Latouche, and the most westerly open-the-year- 
round port on the mainland coast of Alaska, would become a 
town of importance, and, except for the conservation and reser- 
vation policy of the United States Government in tying up 
the natural resources of Alaska, there would doubtless be 
several thousand prosperous people at the present time in this 
town. At one period the population of Seward numbered 
some 2,000, today it is about 700. The Alaska Northern Rail- 
way, constructed northward from Seward for nearly 100 miles, 
has been practically confiscated by the United States because it 
could not pay the annual Government tax of $100 per mile. 
Why railroads in Alaska should pay the Government $100 per 
mile per year for the privilege of opening up new country is 
one of the strangest of the many puzzles presented by Ameri- 
can statesmanship. 

One hundred and seventy-five miles southwest of Seward 
we came to the great island of Kodiak, which I described in the 
chapter on Alaskan farming. Dutch Harbor is on Unalaska 
Island, at the passage between the Pacific Ocean and Bering 
Sea. It is a well-protected harbor, where the weather is never 




UNALASKA ISLAND. 



102 



OUR COLONIES 





^.^^,;.g:|; ; . L 




sH 


lift »T '"fl 






■■iWt 


MB m 





NATIVE CHILDREN AND MIXED RACES, UNALASKA MISSION. 



very cold, and it is nearer to Japan than to the United States. 
It was an important base of supplies when Russia owned 
Alaska and is now used by the United States Government in 
connection with the revenue cutter service. 

Seven hundred and fifty miles north we came to St. 
Michael, a very old Russian trading post near the mouth of 
the Yukon. In the summer time river boats on the Yukon 
meet the ocean-going steamers at this point, transferring pas- 
sengers and freight. St. Michael has a rather shallow harbor 
and will, in my opinion, never be a port of very great impor- 
tance. One of the chief attractions on shore seems to be bears 
trained to drink beer, the bears being chained to posts in front 
of saloons. Tourists, through curiosity, are induced to buy 
bottles of beer for each thirsty Bruin, a source of considerable 



ALASKA 



103 



revenue for the drinking places. I made a photo- 
graph of a bear "caught in the act." There is a 
law against giving or selling liquors to Indians in 
Alaska. Why not also apply it to bears ? It would 
seem that drunken bears might be as dangerous as 
drunken Indians only that they keep the bears 
chained up while the Indians run loose. 

We now come to the "jumping off place" in 
Alaska, the last town of any importance in the far 
northwest corner of the Territory — Nome, 105 drinking beer. 
miles from St. Michael. Early in October, 191 3, 
a large part of this poor town was destroyed by a terrific 
storm which swept in from Bering Sea. Fire added to the 
havoc wrought by the waves, and more than 500 persons 
were left homeless. In 1899 very rich placer deposits were 
discovered at Nome, and since that year many millions of 
dollars' worth of gold has been removed. The placer mines 





SLUICING FOR GOLD IN THE STREETS OF NOME. 



104 



OUR COLONIES 



are now practically exhausted. The buildings of Nome are oi 
temporary construction, even the Government structures being 
made out of flimsy material, and the population, at one period 
over 12,000, when I was there was less than 1,000. There is 
no harbor at Nome. Ships drawing more water than a row- 
boat or shallow barge anchor out in the open, two or three 
miles from the rough shore, which is constantly being beaten 
by waves. Every person who attempts to land on shore from 
a boat gets soaking wet from the flying spray. A pier has 




LANDING PASSENGERS BY AERIAL TROLLEY AT NOME. 
PHOTOGRAPHED DURING A FOG. 



ALASKA 



107 




been constructed a half-mile from the shore, where passengers 
and freight are landed from lighters plying between the ocean- 
going vessels and the pier. From this pier one is carried by an 
aerial tramway to a high dock on the shore. When I went 
ashore some of my fellow passengers refused to risk their 
lives by this method of transportation, although I think they 
were needlessly alarmed. 

Dog racing on the ice in the winter furnishes the residents 
of Nome their most absorbing sport. The Kennel Club of 
Nome occupies much the same position as do the jockey clubs 
of big cities. One of the rules of the club is that all dogs must 



io8 



OUR COLONIES 




ESQUIMAU IVORY CARVER, NOME. 

be registered when they start and be brought back dead or 
alive, to prevent substitution. Racing dogs have been sold in 
Nome from $250 to $1,200 each. From six to twelve dogs are 
hitched to a sled. The Derby is run late in the winter to 
Candle Creek and return to Nome, a course of over 400 miles. 
"First money" ranges from $2,500 to $10,000. Every person 
in Nome talks "dog" the same as they talk "horse" in Ken- 
tucky. It is a striking example of man's ability to extract 
thrills and excitement from almost any environment. 



CHAPTER X. 

TYPES AND SCENES. 

WHEN one makes a long journey through a great, strange 
country like Alaska, certain striking objects are encoun- 
tered and scenes witnessed which do not readily fit into the 
regular narrative, yet that are important and remain vivid in 
one's memory. I shall mention a few such items here. 

Dropping down the deadly quiet Yukon River late one 
summer evening, we came to Nulato, where there was an 
Indian missionary school, church and cemetery. In the purple 
half-light and mysterious loneliness of the mountain region, 
the scene was weird and different in many aspects from any 
other place I had ever visited. I took a photograph which 
shows a portion of the cemetery, a number of Indian tombs 
crowning a hill, all constructed on top of the ground. What 
the camera does not convey to the reader is the fact that each 
small house for the dead, marked by a cross, was painted a 
distinctly different color. The sun, burning low on the horizon 
line, reflected from these uncanny dwellings of the dead all 
the hues of the rainbow. This glow of vivid colors about the 
crude tombs where the forms of men lay lifeless produced a 
strange effect upon the mind. It was much like bedecking a 
corpse with many-hued ribbons, and you can fancy how 
strange a sight that would be. If it were the intention of these 
Indians to make their last resting place so conspicuous that 
Gabriel could not miss them on the morning of the resurrec- 
tion, they have certainly succeeded. When the Great Angel 
finally arrives and proceeds to "page" the sleepers of Alaska 
he can hardly miss them. 

The ice glaciers of Alaska are among the most impressive 
and curious natural formations that I have seen anywhere. 

109 



ALASKA in 

One of the largest of these is the great Childs Glacier on the 
Copper River. Many of the glaciers abut upon the ocean, and 
it is rarely that one finds in the interior upon a river forty 
miles from the sea a "live" glacier, traveling at the rate of four 
feet every hour, as does the Childs Glacier. It is impossible 
for any photograph to show more than a small portion of this 
tremendous formation. It is over 300 feet high, and has a 
face wall abutting on the river several miles in width, and 
extends sixty miles back into the valley and high up a moun- 
tain side. Quite a "block of ice," you see. Every few min- 
utes thousands of tons of ice break loose from the wall or 
face of the glacier and rush down into the water with a noise 
like thunder or the booming of cannon. The plunge of these 
gigantic masses into the river raises the water until it washes 
across the 1,500 feet of distance between the wall of ice and 
the opposite rocky shore and sends waves hundreds of feet 
up the river bank. In fact, it is dangerous to stand close to the 
river unless one is a good "sprinter." The play of nature's 
forces here is so grand that the spectacle becomes fascinating. 
People stand by the hour waiting and watching for the pale 
blue masses of creeping ice to break loose, fall and plunge 
roaring into the river. The boom and shock are fairly stun- 
ning. 

As I stood there looking at the towering glacier an old story 
that I had read somewhere came to my mind. It was the tale 
of a young married couple who on their bridal journey visited 
a "live" glacier, that is, a moving glacier as distinguished from 
a glacier that becomes obstructed and remains motionless. As 
the bridal pair were "honeymooning" about upon the glacier, 
the husband slipped and fell into a deep crevasse from which 
his body could not be recovered. The bride, naturally, was 
heartbroken. However, her grief was slightly assuaged when 
a wise old professor informed her that the body of her young 
husband would be frozen and preserved, much as if he had 
been placed in cold-storage, and that in forty years that portion 
of the glacier containing the body would reach the sea and the 
remains could be recovered. The professor added that prob- 



112 



OUR COLONIES 



ably the physical life of the young man would be locked and 
held in a state of suspended animation, and it was barely possi- 
ble that he would regain consciousness when he was "thawed 
out." So, sustained by hope, the bride remained true to his 
memory for forty years. Just as the long period of waiting 
was ended the crevasse in the glacier reached the seashore, 
precisely as the professor had figured, and the cold-storage 
husband came to light. Also, as the great man had predicted, 
the frozen man awoke to life when they thawed him out. The 
wife was an old woman while the husband was, naturally, still 
a young man. It looked like tragedy, but the writer of the 
story was resourceful. The wife by practicing mental sugges- 
tion, New Thought, and a species of Christian Science, had 
kept herself young and beautiful, and the strangely reunited 
pair finished the wedding journey that had been interrupted 
forty years before, came home and went to keeping house, 
and lived happily ever after. Of course, the story was per- 
fectly easy to believe. However, standing there and looking 
up at the cold and frowning face of the Childs Glacier, it 




ALASKA 113 

occurred to me that if the young cold-storage husband had 
been released from the sort of grinding and crashing crevasses 
that were yawning above the Copper River, he would hardly 
have been worth thawing out. 

But to be serious. The moving glaciers of Alaska are not 
only beautiful and amazing, they are sometimes a menace. An 
instance is that of the railroad bridge over the Copper River. 
This is the largest and most expensive bridge in Alaska. It is 
1,500 feet long and cost $1,500,000. It is located between the 
Childs and Miles glaciers, and was erected in the winter, the 
work being carried forward upon the ice. The contractors 
narrowly escaped failure, as they succeeded in getting the last 
span of the bridge in position only an hour before the ice went 
out of the river. When the bridge was located at this point 
the Childs Glacier was nearly three-quarters of a mile distant. 
Now it is only 1,200 feet away and is creeping nearer with the 
passing of each year. I stood upon the bridge with the rail- 
road superintendent, and I asked him what they would do in 
two or three years, when the gigantic moving wall of ice 




OF THE GREAT CHILDS GLACIER. 
9 



H4 



OUR COLONIES 




COLUMBIA GLACIER, PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND. 



reached the abutments of the bridge. For answer he only 
shook his head and walked away. 

On Prince William Sound, near Valdez, our steamer took 
on ice for the ship's use directly from a glacier. It is called 
the Columbia, and is one of the most beautiful in Alaska. This 
glacier is four miles long and 300 feet in height, and con- 
tinually huge masses are breaking from its face and falling 
with thunderous crashes into the sound. It is a common 
practice for ships to take on ice from a certain part of this 
glacier. The Columbia is a "live" glacier. Where a "live" 
glacier forms, the land beneath it is always sloping, and the 
glacier keeps pushing forward by reason of more ice continu- 
ally forming behind it. A "dead" glacier is a river of ice 
dammed in a pocket, or where the land beneath it slopes down- 
ward toward a mountain or some high point. In southeastern 
Alaska alone there are 170 glaciers of sufficient importance to 
have received names. The glacier crop never fails. 

I was surprised at the tameness of the reindeer of Alaska. 



ALASKA 



117 



When we were going down the Yukon, several herders went 
up into the hills and drove four or five hundred down to the 
river bank for us to inspect. Ten years ago the United States 
Government imported from Siberia 1,280 head of reindeer, 
which is practically a domesticated caribou. When the last 
reindeer census was taken there were forty-six herds in Alaska, 
containing 33,000 animals. The natives own 60 per cent of the 
herds and the missions and the Government own most of the 
remainder. The reindeer was imported because the enormous 
destruction of game, seals and walrus had reduced the natives 
to the verge of starvation. These hardy animals, in addition 
to furnishing the natives with food and clothing, are largely 
used for transportation, having taken the place of dogs in 
drawing sleds in many districts. One of the contradictions 
found in Alaska is that the reindeer thrive better on dried moss 
found under the snow than on green foodstuffs. 

It is estimated that Alaska has grazing ground sufficient to 
support 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 head of reindeer, and indica- 
tions are that the industry will extend over the entire Alaskan 
Peninsula and many Northern localities not yet occupied. The 
export of reindeer meat, with its by-products, is expected to 
form an important item in Alaska's undeveloped resources. In 
Norway and Sweden smoked reindeer tongues are sold at 
markets everywhere, and reindeer skins are marketed all over 
Europe, being worth in their raw condition from $1.50 to 
$1.75 each. The skins are used for gloves, riding trousers and 

the binding of books. The hair 
is utilized in many ways and 
from the horns is made the best 
variety of glue. 

Alaska has had in the past and 
has today men of unusual char- 
acter, some brave as lions, some 
tenacious as bulldogs, some un- 
scrupulous as Satan, and some 
as unselfish and kind as the Man 
of Galilee. Among this latter 



BISHOP PETER TRIMBLE ROWE. 




n8 OUR COLONIES 

class is the best loved man in Alaska, Bishop Peter Trimble 
Rowe of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He is the most 
trusted man in all this land of distrust. The shy Indian child, 
or abused, hungry, outlawed dog, comes to him in confidence. 
The "busted" miner or down-and-out "bum" almost feels the 
touch and presence of his childhood's mother when near him. 
God was good to Alaska when He sent Bishop Rowe to repre- 
sent Him. He was there before gold was discovered, before 
he was a bishop. He has pulled his own sled with only a poor 
Indian to help him over thousands of miles of unbroken, 
snowy trail. He has frozen and starved with the poor, been 
the honored guest of the rich and the host to everybody — 
white man, Indian or half-breed. He has not been particular 
about creeds, nor has he favored, as many missionaries do, 
only the "members of the church." He first considers the 
temporary or worldly need of those with whom he comes in 
contact, and afterward explains that this was what Christ 
taught: "Feed My Lambs." 

If Alaska were made into a United States colony, as it 
should be, he would no doubt, if he would accept, be the first 
Governor elected by the whole people. He understands the 
whole country's commercial needs better than all the political 
officers and officials sent from Washington. If the "Great 
White Father" would ask the advice of Peter Trimble Rowe, 
Alaska would get what every honest man wishes it may have — - 
a square deal. 

Another able and popular man is Hon. J. F. A. Strong, first 
Governor of Alaska since full territorial government went into 
effect, who was appointed in the spring of 1913 by President 
Wilson. He is a pioneer Alaskan settler. He started a news- 
paper at Skagway before the rush into Dawson in 1897. Real- 
izing the great opportunities for making a quick fortune at 
Dawson, he started over the White Pass, packing his outfit and 
trying to get through a small printing plant with the first rush 
in 1897. After encountering hardships which none but a 
thoroughbred frontiersman could have overcome, he succeeded 
in getting to Dawson and there established his newspaper. 



ALASKA 



119 



Like everybody else, he went into mining and did placer mining 
with his own hands. From Dawson, Canada, he went down 
the Yukon and up the Tanana. He ran another newspaper at 
another point in interior Alaska — the name of the town I have 




HON. JOHN F. A. STRONG, GOVERNOR OF ALASKA. 

forgotten. From that point he went to Nome and was there 
during the boom, conducting the most influential newspaper 
in such a broad-gauged way that he accomplished a great deal 
of good in that camp, which was torn and rent by factional 



120 



OUR COLONIES 



fights for many years. No doubt his wise counsel prevented 
much bloodshed. Although always a Democrat and true to 
his party at a time when the Republican administration fully 
controlled the Alaskan situation, he retained the respect and 
confidence of every one. From Nome he went to Juneau, the 
present capital of Alaska, and started another daily paper, and 
with the change of national administration was the most logical 
man in all Alaska for the position of first political Governor. 
He lives in a beautiful home in Juneau erected by the United 
States Government as the residence of the Governor, and he 
and his charming wife occupy the first position in social life as 
well as government. He is a real pioneer, understanding the 
needs of the country, and, unless overruled at Washington', will 
be able to do a great deal for Alaska. Although he is only about 
fifty years of age the hardships of this new country have turned 
his hair snowy white ; he has the military carriage of an officer 
in the regular army and all the diplomacy of a statesman. He 




INDIAN GIRLS SEWING AT SITKA MISSION SCHOOL. 



ALASKA 121 

is an honest man and, irrespective of party, was the choice of 
the people of Alaska for Governor. President Wilson never 
made a more popular appointment. 

If the good intentions of our Government and the mission- 
aries produced such results in Alaska as they do at home, the 
native Alaskan child would have a good start in the world. 
But when you consider the "world" they start in, their blood 
and surroundings, they have precious little chance of success 
after the only happy days they ever know — their school days — 
during which they are guarded and cared for mentally and 
physically and get a start that would be promising anywhere. 

The Greek Catholic Church, which first took Christianity 
to Alaska, in the early days of Russian occupation, maintains 
missions at a dozen localities, and now nearly every Christian 
denomination is represented by one or more missions. More 
than a score of native schools are maintained under the control 
of a commissioner of education, most of them being at the 
mission stations, but despite all efforts of the missionaries, a 
great many native children are still out of reach of educational 
facilities. However, the attempt at industrial education of the 
natives has met with considerable success at some missions. 
The United States Government also spends a large amount 
of money on the native Alaskans for food, clothing and 
schools. My observations led me to believe, however, that as 
usual only a relatively small percentage of this money reaches 
its intended purpose. 

Having shot big game in nearly all parts of the world, the 
opportunities for this sort of sport in Alaska interested me. 
Investigation convinced me that Alaska is one of the finest 
natural hunting grounds in the world, as bull moose, brown, 
black and grizzly bears, mountain sheep and goats, caribou, 
deer and other big game, as well as many varieties of smaller 
game, are so numerous in many parts of the Territory that 
sportsmen rarely fail in getting good results. Under the game 
laws, nonresidents must obtain hunting licenses from the 
Governor, and on the Kenai Peninsula they must employ 
registered guides. The big game hunting season opens on 



122 



OUR COLONIES 



August ist and lasts four months. During the closed season 
bears, moose, mountain sheep and other game may be killed by- 
miners and explorers in search of food, but cannot be shipped 
from the Territory. 

In the number and variety of its bears, Alaska is without 
a rival. Scientists report that there are thirteen varieties, but 
these are classified into four general types — brown, black, 
grizzly and polar bears. Brown bears, which are noted for 
their size and ferocity, are most numerous in southeastern 
Alaska. A variety of the brown bear, called Kodiak, is found 
on the island of that name. Black bears roam in many parts 
of the Territory, but are especially common in the southeastern 
region. Grizzly bears are found along the coasts and in the 
interior. Polar bears, the largest of all, confine themselves 
chiefly to the ice floes of the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean. 
The polar bear does not hibernate in winter, but remains on the 

ice and lives on seals and fish. 
In Nome there are a number of 
noted polar bear hunters. 

The moose is the largest 
hoofed wild animal in North 
America, and ranges throughout 
the timbered portion of Alaska, 
with the exception of the south- 
eastern coast region. Because 
of the fact that few men will kill 
a cow moose, these animals have 
not diminished like the caribou. 
The caribou of the plains roam 
the barren North in the summer 
and return southward in the 
winter. For years great herds 
have been killed off at the south- 
ern feeding grounds, but there 
are said to be millions more in 
the far North. The caribou are 
not so wary as the moose, but 







AN ALASKAN BROWN BEAR. 




SNAPSHOT OF AN ALASKAN BULL MOOSE. 



124 



OUR COLONIES 




MOUNTAIN GOATS FROM SUMMIT OF WHITE PASS, ALASKA. 

the species found in the woodlands is more difficult to hunt 
than the plains variety, being wilder and also having the pro- 
tection of the foliage. In the southeastern coast region there 
are many deer of the blacktail variety. The blacktail ranges 
farther north than any other American deer. 

The mountain sheep of Alaska are nearly pure white, more 
graceful, somewhat smaller and with more slender horns than 
the Big Horn or Rocky Mountain sheep. They are most 
numerous about the main divides and the higher peaks, and 
hunting them is one of the most exciting sports. Mountain 
goats are abundant in regions where there are few mountain 
sheep. The mountain goat of Alaska resembles the chamois 
of Europe. 

There are four varieties of fox in Alaska, one being the red 



ALASKA 



125 



fox; the others are the silver-gray, the cross and the black. 
The selling of fox skins has become a most profitable industry. 
Large shipments, increasing in quantity with each year, are 
made from Alaska. There are many fox farms and the devel- 
opment of the industry is giving employment to many people. 
Fox farming is principally confined to the black and silver-gray 
varieties. Other valuable fur-bearing animals which are plen- 
tiful in the Territory are the lynx, mink, otter, and marten, or 
American sable. The stoat, or ermine, is found in some parts 
of Alaska. There is a bounty on wolves, which have practically 
exterminated the small deer in southeastern Alaska. The 
wolverine is encountered in many parts of the country, where 
it lives chiefly as a scavenger. 

Of all the birds of Alaska the ptarmigan are the most 
interesting. They have served as food for many a prospector 
and explorer in the far North. The color of their feathers 




STUFFED ALASKAN PTARMIGAN, SHOWING THE PLUMAGE OF THE 
DIFFERENT SEASONS. 



126 OUR COLONIES 

changes from a tortoise-shell in the summer to a beautiful 
white in the winter. While it is difficult to see them when 
they are on the snow, they are easy to kill except in the mating 
season, as they do not flee when one approaches them, and it 
is often possible to knock them over with rocks and sticks. 
The mother birds are cunning when protecting their nests, 
however, endeavoring to lead visitors as far away as possible. 
Nature has provided these birds with a covering for their legs 
of hairlike feathers, to protect them from the severe cold. 
There are five varieties of grouse in Alaska, one of the best 
known being the blue grouse. 

Ducks, geese, plover, snipe, brant and many other species of 
birds are found upon almost all of the lakes and streams. 
Near St. Michael a tract of country equal in extent to fifty by 
one hundred miles square, and particularly fitted for the pur- 
pose by reason of its swamps and waterways, has wisely been 
set apart as breeding ground for the above species of feathered 
creatures. Hence, you see, duck shooting and kindred sports 
promise to continue good. 

Apropos of duck shooting, an Alaskan friend of mine 
related to me how an official tenderfoot from Washington. 
D. C, came out to his town on a Government mission. My 
friend took the official out duck shooting. The official had 
never before in his life fired a gun at a flying bird, but the 
first duck he shot at fell dead to the ground. 

"Well, you got him !" exclaimed my friend in surprise. 

"Yes," replied the tenderfoot, "but I might as well have 
saved my ammunition, the fall would have killed the duck 
anyhow !" 

His mental processes were about on a plane with the reason- 
ing of persons who believe that, as in the case of Alaska, a 
country can be wisely governed and provided for by statesmen 
who never saw it and live 5,000 miles away. I am glad to note 
that Franklin K. Lane, United States Secretary of the Interior, 
now openly admits this view of the case. 

A strictly constructive program of development should be 
adopted for Alaska, a scheme that will release and bring the 



ALASKA 



127 



energies of Alaska herself into action. So far as possible the 
resources of Alaska should be set free from Government 
restrictions, and the development of the country left to Alas- 
kans. If the Government should build railroads in Alaska, 
let us be sure that it goes no further than that, giving every one 
an equal opportunity in the matter of rates and business rights, 
and keeping political favoritism out of the situation. Individ- 
uals prompted by individual interests will always develop a new 
country more rapidly than Government agencies, if the indi- 
viduals are not overtaxed or hampered by unjust and restricting 
laws. Remember that Alaska is the largest body of unused and 
neglected land now belonging to the United States. The demand 
for homes in the "States" is greater 
than the supply. Alaska should be opened 
up rapidly and upon a liberal and per- 
fectly fair basis of opportunity to all. 
Many brave and energetic people are 

J already there, many more of like char- 

acter will follow when the Government's 
policy becomes sane and liberal instead 
of hurtful and restrictive. Above all, 
Alaska's need is to be constructed into 
a colony, with very limited connection 
with Washington, D. C., that the Alaskans 
themselves may develop and control their 
country according to their ambitions and 
needs. It is quite true that Alaska on 
August 24, 1912, was created a Territory, 
with a Legislature of its own, but the act 
creating it a Territory states that "it shall 
be a Territory, under the laws of the 
United States, the government of which 
shall be organized and administered as 
provided by law." Hence the United 
States Government holds the whip hand. 
However, the first Legislature that con- 
vened at Juneau, in the spring of 1913, 

ALASKAN BALD EAGLE. 




128 OUR COLONIES 

did well, though Congress has the right to annul any of its 
acts. 

Twenty-three members attended the meeting of the first 
Legislature. The election was held in November, 191 2, and 
complete returns did not reach Juneau until February 12, 19 13, 
as the ballots and registers had to be transmitted through the 
mails overland in winter. If the vote had been close in any 
district there would have been trouble, for it was impossible 
to issue election certificates until the members apparently 
elected had arrived at the capital. Senators and Representa- 
tives from the Northwestern (Nome) District traveled with 
dog teams to the head of the sleigh-stage line at Fairbanks, a 
distance of from 700 to 900 miles, then followed the stage trip 
of 360 miles to Valdez and a voyage by steamer from Valdez 
to Juneau, about 700 miles. One Senator walked over the 
frozen trail several hundred miles, stopping at road houses on 
the way; His official mileage allowance was 15 cents a mile. 
The distance traveled by the members, to Juneau and returning 
to their homes, averaged 2,451 miles, or an average allowance 
for traveling expenses of $367.65. On account of the time 
consumed this would hardly pay their board bill en route. 

There is no strong political party in Alaska — the residents of 
a Territory do not vote in national elections — and so the main 
question in the mind of each Legislator was "What is best for 
Alaska?" instead of "How can I serve my party?" A lawyer 
was President of the Senate and a miner was Speaker of the 
House. The Legislature enacted eighty laws. The first law, 
No. 1, granted women in Alaska the same right to vote as the 
men. This Legislature also furnished Alaska with long- 
needed public health statutes, laws for bank regulation and for 
relief of the poor ; created a territorial treasury, made impor- 
tant amendments to the mining laws, which had been imposed 
without regard to conditions in the Territory, enacted an 
employers' liability law and revised licenses and taxes. The 
Legislature was confronted with the difficulty of raising rev- 
enues in a Territory whose population is small and whose 
developed resources are already taxed heavily under United 



ALASKA 129 

States laws for the benefit of our rich National Government, 
but the new revenue law is not regarded as being vicious and 
is expected to yield $240,000 a year. The Legislature author- 
ized appropriations amounting to $60,000 a year for two years. 
One of its most important acts was the passing of a poll tax 
law for the construction of highways. The new tax of $4 
per capita is being collected with little trouble, so universal is 
the demand for real roads in Alaska. Even with the draw- 
back of a Government 5,000 miles distant the Alaskans are 
hopeful. 

And now reluctantly my pen and Alaska part, but not for- 
ever. How can I forget this big, poor, rich Territory? So 
long as I can secure the public ear through my pen and voice 
will I try to help Alaska to her own, so long will I advocate 
the making of Alaska a colony of the United States instead 
of a Territory. This country of contradictions, with the Arctic 
Ocean on one side and warm Japan Current on the other ; this 
far North country of perpetual spring and winter ; this country 
of glaciers and strawberries ; this land of the midnight sun 
and sunless midday; this country of highest mountains and 
deepest sea ; this country of longest rivers and fairest flowers ; 
this country of wildest animals and tamest seals ; this country 
where the reindeer gets fatter in the winter than in the sum- 
mer ; this country of richest mines and poorest transportation ; 
this country of bravest men and lowest outcasts — may you 
some day be intrusted to work out your own salvation, as you 
alone can do it, with Uncle Sam lending you a helping, not a 
hindering, hand. 

10 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 

Area in square miles 6,446, population 191 4, estimated, 200,000; 
of this number 25,000 are natives and about 45,000 of 
Caucasian extraction; the balance are half-breeds, with 
about 100,000 Japanese and Chinese — Capital, Honolulu, 
population about 55,000 — Chief resources, sugar, pineapples, 
coffee, honey, hides, fruits, rice, wool, tobacco, cotton and 
rubber — Exports to foreign countries, 1913, $758,546; im- 
ports, $6,033,531 ; imports from United States, 1913, $29,- 
129,409, exports to United States, same period, $42,713,294, 
of which sum $37,707,820 was for sugar — Total assessed 
value of property in islands, 1913, $175,201,161 — Present 
Governor, Hon. Lucius E. Pinkham. 

CHAPTER XL 

OCEAN AND ISLANDS. 

ON THE bosom of the vast Pacific, either through peace 
or by war, the inevitable struggle for the final world 
supremacy is likely to be decided. The position and relations 
of mankind in the Occidental portion of the earth have, for the 
most part, been fought out upon the waters of the Atlantic 
Ocean and its shores. But the heave and surge of changing 
human forces are active in the Orient, the meeting of the 
tides of the white and yellow races, where two-thirds of the 
world's population lives ; hence, the Pacific is "the Ocean with 
a Future" and tremendously important and interesting. The 
United States owns many of its islands, and is destined to play 
the chief role in coming events in that quarter of the world. 

It is an ocean rife with romance and mystery, and so large 
that the human mind falters in trying to grasp its extent. 
Yellow men and dark-skinned people dwelt upon its islands and 
the great Eastern lands that border it, through ages and ages 
before Europe discovered them. But change came, the day 
dawned. From the Orient came the first settlers of the Ameri- 
can Continent, by way of cold Siberia and Alaska. 

130 




COCONUT PALMS, HAWAII. 



132 



OUR COLONIES 



Four hundred years ago, on September 25, 15 13, the west- 
ern shore of this greatest of oceans was first seen by a white 
man. That day Balboa, its discoverer, looked out upon it from 
a hill of the Isthmus of Panama. It was a momentous day 
for mankind, and yet the white man has gone but little farther 
west. 

However, thousands of miles away across the wide waters, 
and more than two hundred years before, a white man had 
skirted the far-off eastern shores of the mighty sea. That was 
Marco Polo, the Venetian. His history is one of the world's 
great stories. His father and uncle, although merchants, were 
adventurers at heart and set out on distant trails "to increase 
their wealth and enlarge their knowledge of the world." They 
spent twenty-five years in traveling through the Orient, and at 




SCENE ON THE ISLAND OF OAHU. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



133 



the age of seventeen young Marco accompanied his father to 
the eastern limits of Asia. He lived in Peking, "in Far Cathay," 
for many years, as guest and hostage of the Grand Khan. At 
last his opportunity came to return to Venice when an Oriental 
sovereign, then ruling in Persia, desired to marry a Mongol 
princess. A deputation was sent to ask for her hand and the 
offer was accepted. But when the lady attempted to journey 
to her lord overland, she found the country unsettled and was 
obliged to return home. Then Marco Polo saw his chance. 

"Let me take the Princess to Persia by sea," he said, and 
the Grand Khan consented. Fourteen ships, provisioned for 
three years, set sail down the Pei-ho River from Peking and 



\ 






NATIVE HAWAIIAN SPEARING FISH. 



i 3 4 OUR COLONIES 

the first recorded voyage on the Pacific was begun. This was 
in 1291. 

Out on the Yellow Sea they sailed, Marco in command, 
and in three months reached the island of Sumatra; then 
through the Indian Ocean, beset by adverse winds and attacked 
by pirates. But Persia was reached at last. In the meantime 
the prospective groom had died, but his son willingly married 
the foreign bride "and they lived happily ever after." 

Marco kept on to Italy and published his famous map and 
an extravagant description of his travels. While more than 
two hundred years ahead of Balboa, he little suspected the 
magnitude of the waters on which he had sailed, an ocean over 
10,000 miles wide at the equator and of nearly equal length, 
containing double the volume of the Atlantic, its nearest rival. 

It remained for Magellan in his marvelous voyage of cir- 
cumnavigation of the globe to know its immensity. "It is a 
sea so vast that human mind cannot grasp it," he wrote. 

Born of Portuguese parentage and of noble blood, as was 
Balboa, Magellan made his first voyage to the East Indies, to 
the Spice Islands. Learning of Balboa's discovery, the idea 
came to him that this great "South Sea" might stretch west- 
ward to the very islands he had visited. Seven years later he 
set sail for the Spanish Crown, with five little \essels, the 
largest only one hundred and twenty tons. Crossing the South 
Atlantic, and experiencing treachery and mutiny, he at last 
reached "an opening like unto a bay," and the long sought 
channel was found. At Cape Pillar, the western end of the strait, 
he found placid waters, hence the name "Pacific," or peace- 
ful, ocean, which is not always true of those waters by any 
means. Then across the immense ocean Magellan sailed from 
the strait, north of Tierra del Fuego, which bears his name, to 
the island in the Philippines which holds his grave. 

Two hundred and fifty-eight years later, the famous James 
Cook, an English naval captain, plowed a straight furrow from 
south to north on the Pacific, from the tropical Society Isles to 
the seal lands of the Bering Sea. Like Magellan, he was killed 
by the natives and lies in an island grave. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



135 



Ocean greyhounds have taken the place of the outrigger 
canoes of the savages which dared the deep in Cook's day, and 
still put out occasionally from island shores. Floating palaces 
carry us to the Asiatic coast from which the junks of the 
ancients still set sail. Advancing and arrested races meet. 




OLD-TIME HAWAIIAN MUSICIANS *mmm^ 

AND A HULA-HULA DANCER. 

But China, the mighty Rip 
Van Winkle, wakens, and Japan has already 
won a place among the great nations of the 
world. The Philippines, Gems of the East, 
have become our foster-children, and 
Hawaii, Pearl of all the Pacific, our very 
own. Whether we believe it wise or not, it 
is inevitable that a great continental nation, 
like the United States, should have outlying 
territories and island possessions in the seas 
that wash its shores. It is a matter of self- 
protection as well as a demand of com- 
merce. Hence, Porto Rico, the Philippines, 
Hawaii, Alaska and the Panama Canal Zone. 




136 OUR COLONIES 

To us the Hawaiian group of islands is very important. 
Their history is strange, misty, romantic. Their original 
inhabitants apparently came from the Orient. Out onto the 
greatest of all oceans primitive people set sail in their crude 
canoes far back in the shadowy, prehistoric past. They 
had been driven to the very fringe of the Asiatic continent by 
more warlike tribes, to the Straits Settlements of today. Now 
Mongol hordes from the North still forced them on. Passing 
the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands, where ferocious black 
cannibals lived, these gentle brown voyagers came out upon 
the great unknown waters which we call the Pacific Ocean. 
With their domestic animals, food-plants and household gods, 
they sailed with the winds to Hawaii and other islands farther 
south. And so Polynesia was peopled. 

At least this is the way I see it. The Hawaiians will tell 
you a different story. Wakea and his wife, Papa, arrived first, 
they say, just after creating the earth. Then Hawaii-loa, a 
bold seaman, came from the west, and other people from the 
south in large double canoes. The menehunes, or fairies, 
crept out of the forest at night and built huts, boats and temples 
of worship for the newcomers. And thus the legends run 
down until they blend into history. 

Without doubt, all the people of Polynesia are of one race. 
From Hawaii to New Zealand, from Easter Island to Samoa, 
we find the same arts, customs and folklore and the languages 
are closely related. The story of the early life of the Hawai- 
ians, and the coming of the white man to their shores is worth 
relating. 

For centuries these happy children of the Great Ocean lived 
in ignorance of the white-skinned people. Balboa, claiming 
the Pacific and all the lands that bordered it for the Crown of 
Spain, little dreamed of these palm-encircled islands. Magel- 
lan, first of white men to cross this ocean, passed them by. 
Sir Francis Drake, following in Magellan's wake, missed them. 
And, marvel of marvels ! The galleons of Spain, plowing 
their clumsy way from Mexico to Manila twice a year for two 
hundred and fifty years, failed to discover them ! I have heard 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



137 



that the secret archives of Spain made record of their exist- 
ence, but I doubt it, for the Spanish navigators seemed alto- 
gether ignorant of this haven lying between their New and 
Old World possessions. 

It is pleasant to picture the island life in those early days. 




A BELLE OF HAWAII. 



138 OUR COLONIES 

The great sea-going canoes were from fifty to one hundred 
feet long and six to eight feet deep. A large company went on 
voyages from island to island, the chief and his family sitting 
on a mat-covered platform above the bronze paddlers. The 
sails were made from strips of matting. Great gourds served 
as water bottles. Pigs, dogs and chickens were carried alive 
and the taro plant and breadfruit were part of the cargo. The 
pilot steered by the stars. Sometimes many canoes formed a 
squadron, the chief pilot guiding them all. A strange contrast, 
this, to the ocean greyhounds which ply between Hawaii and 
New Zealand today, and our Pacific Coast. 

These early islanders were expert fishermen, using hook 
and line, nets, spears, and wicker baskets. They could fairly 
outswim the fish. Nature supplied everything they needed 
from the bone and shell for their fishhooks to the olona shrub 
for their nets. The hardwood for their canoes, the calabashes 
for their household implements, the roots for basket weaving — • 
all grew in abundance. 

Before building a canoe, they offered a prayer to the gods 
and the priest of the village went into the forest with the men 
to choose the right kind of tree. Koa, the Hawaiian mahogany, 
was first choice. Many of the outrigger canoes which the 
traveler sees today in Pacific island ports is the type which has 
been in use for centuries. 

Hawaiian farmers raised taro, yams, bananas and sweet 
potatoes, and very early the sugar cane was brought to them. 
From the taro root poi, the chief article of food, was made. It 
corresponds with the cassava of South America, made from 
the manioc plant. 

Among all primitive people baskets are woven, as they must 
have a way of carrying things. The fiber of a tree, well beaten, 
was commonly utilized as a garment. The most of the 
Hawaiian fiber garments were beaten from the wauke tree, 
which was cultivated for the purpose. 

The Incas of Peru wore feather garments as a mark of 
nobility, and so did these early Pacific chiefs. Helmets, capes 
and headdresses of great beauty were woven by the women for 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



139 



the ornamentation of their lords. A tall chief decorated with 
multi-colored feathers must have been a gorgeous sight, and 
formidable as well, when equipped with a great adz weighing 
twelve pounds, useful in the felling of tree or foe. 

We must not picture these people as always at work and 
war, for games, songs and dances played an important role in 
their care-free lives. Many of the national songs and char- 
acteristic dances have come down to the present day, and form 
the chief attraction to tourists visiting the islands. 

The people lived in grass houses, but sometimes built stone 




HAWAIIAN HUT. FEW OF THIS TYPE ARE NOW LEFT. 



walls about the huts as a protection. A few of these walls still 
stand, but there are no great monuments of the aborigines on 
any of the eight islands of the Hawaiian group, as on Easter 
Island. 

One stormy night, way back in November, 1736, a boy was 
born in Hawaii, who was destined to become Kamehameha the 
Great, and unite all the islands into one kingdom. He played 
at surf-riding and hurling the spear with the other lads and 
worked in the fields with a will, but very early his companions 
felt his superiority. He was stronger and braver than they. It 
was long before he ascended the throne. It was while he still 




STATUE IN HONOLULU OF KAMEHAMEHA THE GREAT. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



141 



lived with his uncle, King Kalaniopuu, that James Cook, the 
English explorer, discovered the islands. On his way from the 
far South to the Bering Sea, Cook accidentally sighted Oahu, 
on which the city of Honolulu is now situated. Later he landed 
on Kauai and Niihau, a little to the northwest. 

The natives were terrified at the sight of the strange ships 
and said, "A forest has risen from the sea." Cook stayed long 
enough to trade nails and iron for food and water and was 
very kindly treated by the dark-skinned people. 

The following year he came again to winter in the sunny 
isles, and Kamehameha, always fearless, accepted an invitation 
to remain all night aboard one of the ships. After a month 
of hospitalities on either side, the strangers seem to have 
outstayed their welcome. Many stories have been told of how 
Cook met his death, but it is certain that he was stabbed in the 
back by one of the Hawaiians. His monument is at Keala- 
kekua Bay, not far from 
the spot where he fell. 

Now other strangers 
arrived, from England, 
France and Asia, traders 
and missionaries, and Ha- 
waiian boys were taken 
away to be educated in civ- 
ilized lands. Kamehameha 
came to the throne and de- 
termined to unite all the 
islands under his rule. He 
did this and more. He was 
fair to foreigners and did 
his best to keep them in the 
country to teach his people 
new ways. He granted them 
lands free from rent. To- 
day he stands out as the 
greatest character in Ha- 




CAPTAIN COOK S MONUMENT. 



142 OUR COLONIES 

waiian history, for, while he respected all of the old customs 
of his people, he changed their way of living little by little, pre- 
paring them for civilization and Christianity. He was far 
ahead of his time. A hundred years after Cook's discovery the 
people erected a monument to their beloved "Kamehameha the 
Great" in a park in Honolulu. 

American missionaries reached the islands in 1820 and the 
most of our early knowledge of the Hawaiians came to us 
through them. They were teachers, above all things, and per- 
formed a noble work, with kindness and tolerance, also with 
an eye to business. 

There have been four other rulers by the name of Kame- 
hameha since the first one reigned, and Kamehameha III. 
renounced the throne for British rule. This did not last long, 
however, for in 1843 came Restoration Day, when the Hawai- 
ian flag was again raised. 

Kalakaua, the last native king, died in 1891 at the Palace 
Hotel in San Francisco, and the cry was still "Hawaii for the 
Hawaiians," but by this time there were many aliens on the 
islands and little of the native stock left of the reigning type. 
Kalakaua's sister was proclaimed Queen under the title of 
Liliuokalani, but a republican form of government followed 
two years later. 

When we went to war with Spain, the possession of Hawaii 
became a very important matter. Symptoms of annexation 
had been conspicuous for some time, and three months after 
the beginning of the war, President McKinley approved the 
bill making the island republic a part of the United States. 

The official taking over of this group, "the fairest fleet of 
islands anchored in any sea," while pathetic, was most 
impressive. It was the echo of Dewey's guns at Manila that 
was heard in Honolulu August 12, 1898, when one flag 
went down amid the roar of saluting cannon, and another 
went up to take its place. A man who was there on that 
memorable day told me that only a small crowd was present 
and every one very quiet. The ceremony was short and sad. 
A republic was being absorbed. A nationality was being snuffed 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



143 



out like a candle. Naturally it was not a joyous affair. When 
it was over, women, wearing the American emblem, wiped 
their eyes — even men who had been strong for annexation 
had a lump in their throats. 

As for the Hawaiians, none were present. They kept to 
their homes, away from streets and shops. The crowd in front 
of the Executive Building was composed of Americans, Por- 
tuguese, Japanese and Chinese. 

The ceremonies carried all the tension of an execution. It 
was more like a funeral than a fete. Rear Admiral Miller 





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THE STARS AND STRIPES WAVING OVER HAWAII. 



144 OUR COLONIES 

landed men from the warship Philadelphia. Three marines 
walking apart carried a great roll in their arms, the American 
flag. A gentle rain was falling. When United States Minister 
Sewell had finished *his short, dignified speech, the Hawaiian 
flag, which was proudly waving, sank for the last time as the 
Government band played the national anthem, "Our Very Own 
Hawaii." All heads were uncovered and many were bowed. 
In the distance the twenty-one gun salute to the falling flag 
from the battery of the Philadelphia boomed out. Then at a 
signal the "Star Spangled Banner" burst from the Philadel- 
phia's band, as the big thirty-foot flag went to the peak. The 
clouds broke. The blue sky showed overhead. The most 
beautiful flag on land or sea caught the breath of a passing 
breeze and flung itself wide over the fairy islands, a promise 
to Hawaii, "for better or for worse, in sickness or in health," 
wedlock forever with the "land of the free and the home of the 
brave." And who will dare to take this flag down? 

To the former Governor of the islands, Hon. Walter F. 
Frear, much credit is due for the intelligent handling of gov- 
ernmental matters in Hawaii. Hon. Lucius E. Pinkham, the 
present Governor, was appointed November 29, 191 3. Though 
not highly pleased with the appointment, the people of the 
islands are hoping for creditable results. 



CHAPTER XII. 



HAWAII OF TODAY. 

t t/^\N THE edge of the world my islands lie," sings Mary 

V^/ Dillingham Frear, wife of the ex-Governor of Hawaii, 
in one of her charming Pacific poems, and the people of Hono- 
lulu will grant this to poetic license. But they deeply resent 
that this is about where most of us locate the Hawaiian Islands. 

This is especially true east of the Rocky Mountains. As 
one travels west, however, one's viewpoint gradually changes. 
On the Pacific Coast, Hawaii is no longer "those Sandwich 
Islands overseas," but a wide-awake American territory just a 
little farther on. In San Francisco and Seattle the people are 
as closely in touch with Honolulu 
commercially as with New York. 

We sailed from the Golden 
Gate to Honolulu under the Ameri- 
can flag and, with the exception of 
a few tourists bound for the Orient 
and a lot of little "Chinks," as stew- 
ards and cabin boys, the people on 
board were all live Americans on 
their way from one of Uncle Sam's 
ports to another, on business or on 
pleasure. 

In San Francisco one has the 
choice of three steamer lines to the 
islands, all flying the Stars and 
Stripes. A fourth line, Japanese, 
is debarred by our coastwise ship- 
ping law from carrying passengers 
between two American ports, al- 
though tickets are sold on the "Jap" 




11 



145 



ROYAL PALMS IN HONOLULU. 



146 



OUR COLONIES 



line from San Francisco to Manila. The status of the Philip- 
pines seems to be represented by an interrogation point in this 
flag-sailing matter. 

All of these steamer lines have a working agreement on 
passenger and freight rates and have also adjusted the speed 
question, giving proper consideration to fuel consumption. 
There is no record-breaking here, as between Vancouver and 
Yokohama. Many of the Pacific steamers have served a long 
apprenticeship on the Atlantic before being moved over to this 
larger sphere. With a fresh coat of paint and a change of 
name, they begin life all over again. From the moment they 
plow the waters of the Pacific, their increase in tonnage is 
most remarkable. I know one old boat, scarred from battles 
with many a Caribbean hurricane. Like some other old heroes 
it wore out its welcome and "went West." On the Atlantic its 
rating was 4,500 tons. On the Pacific it became a 9,000 tonner. 
There is a difference in the two methods of computing sizes. 
On the Atlantic net tonnage is considered, while on the Pacific 
it is displacement. 

We sailed from San Francisco early Thursday afternoon 




liP* 1 




BIRD S-EYE VIEW OF 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



H7 



and on the following Wednesday morning at daybreak sighted 
the islands. There are twelve in the group, but only eight are 
inhabited, in the order of their size : Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, 
Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau, and Kahoolawe. 

Molokai is seen first in the distance by east-bound ships. 
Then Oahu, on which Honolulu is situated, comes into view 
close at hand, a thing of beauty in the clear morning air. In 
shape it looks like a Chinese dragon, a shining green dragon, 
creeping over the sparkling blue waters. Oahu is forty-six 
miles long and twenty-five miles wide and has two mountain 
ranges. Coasting a jagged line of purple peaks, "fire-born and 
rain-carved," the ship rounds a fine promontory known as Dia- 
mond Head, the Hawaiian Gibraltar which guards Honolulu. 

The traveler familiar with tropical settings is apt to picture 
Hawaii's capital as a second Rio de Janeiro or Funchal. But 
do not look for red-tiled roofs and multi-colored walls here or 
you will be sadly disappointed. The background of verdure- 
clad hills, crowned with mist, is all that the artist could ask for, 
but the town looks like any other American city of 55,000 
inhabitants, with the usual number of factories and chimneys. 




HONOLULU AND ITS HARBOR. 



148 OUR COLONIES 

"Why, it's as smoky as Pittsburgh!" exclaimed a girl with 
a camera, and I must confess that it impressed me as a hive of 
industry. It is strange how those old schoolbook pictures of 
Hawaiian grass huts and hula dancers have clung to us all 
these years. The early New England missionaries began the 
transformation back in 1820. Their children and grandchil- 
dren kept up the work, and, it is said, own nearly the whole 
group of islands, so Americanization has been continuous. 
The Hawaiians as a people are no more. They have been 
absorbed in Uncle Sam's great melting-pot. If you ever 
go to Hawaii do not expect brown-skinned natives, bedecked 
with wreaths, waiting for you on the pier. Instead you will 
find hotel runners and motor drivers — there are 1,200 automo- 
biles in the city. You will skim up well-paved streets to a great 
metropolitan hotel where a Japanese bellboy will show you to 
your room, overlooking a noisy business street. You are still 
a bit dazed. Can this be the land of Aloha? 

Honolulu's best friends can hardly claim that man's work 
here harmonizes with Nature's. The piles of coal on the water- 
front, the dust on the streets, the rush and scramble everywhere 
are found in all ports where commerce is spelled with a big 
"C." The business portion of the city is not a success archi- 
tecturally. There are a few fine fireproof blocks with nonde- 
script neighbors. 

"Oh ! just wait until you see the home section," said the 
hotel clerk. "Honolulu has the gardens all right !" 

There is a splendid electric-car service, but most tourists 
patronize the automobiles, parked in a most formidable row 
opposite Young's Hotel. 

The Executive Building, formerly the Royal Palace, sur- 
rounded by a park, is the show place down town. It was 
erected in 1880 of concrete and highly ornamented by royal 
command. Today it is used by both branches of Congress and 
by Government officials. The golden crown still surmounts 
each window, and in the throne-room, where territorial laws 
are enacted today, hang oil paintings of Kanaka royalty inter- 
spersed with great canvases of European rulers, friendly gifts 



i5o 



OUR COLONIES 




FORT STREET, HONOLULU, THE PRINCIPAL BUSINESS STREET. 




THRONE-ROOM IN THE EXECUTIVE BUILDING, FORMERLY 
THE PALACE, HONOLULU. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



151 



to the "King of the Sandwich Islands." This building, flanked 
by Royal palms, is closely associated with the later history of 
Hawaiian rule. In its second year it weathered an insurrec- 
tion. Here Kalakaua, last of the native kings, who died in 
San Francisco, lay in state. Here Liliuokalani, his sister, who 
ruled after him, was tried for treason and imprisoned. 
Ex-Queen Liliuokalani still lives quietly in Honolulu, and as I 
motored away from the capital, the driver said : 

"Look into the carriage that's coming! There to the left, 
the surrey ! The two black horses ! She'll be on the back 
seat — the Queen!" 

I saw a gentle-faced old lady, brown of skin, wearing black 
and purple. The Queen is an aged lady now and is not so 
stout as old-time photographs portray her. She keeps closely 
to her home, known as Washington Place, a house much 
like others in its neighborhood, surrounded by a beautiful 
garden. President Cleveland offered to restore Liliuokalani 
to the throne if she would agree not to imprison her enemies. 
She firmly declined unless permitted to behead at least a dozen 
of the leading citizens. 

Oahu College is a landmark in Honolulu. It was started 
by the missionaries for the education of their children and 







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BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP MUSEUM, HONOLULU. 



152 



OUR COLONIES 



other foreign youngsters and is one of the oldest — I believe the 
oldest — American college this side of the Missouri River. The 
capital of Hawaii was a thriving town, we must remember, 
before San Francisco was on the map. In the fifties and 
sixties, California children were sent over to Honolulu to be 
educated. Another interesting school is the Kamehameha 
School for Hawaiians situated just out of town. It was 
founded by the legacy of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last of the 
royal line of Kamehameha, who married the Hon. Charles 
Bishop, an American, who arrived in the islands as a cook on a 
sailing vessel and took a chance by marrying royalty. In her 
memory Mr. Bishop founded a Museum of Polynesian Eth- 
nology and Natural History, where I learned more about the 
ancient Hawaiians in one afternoon than I could by reading 
books through a lifetime. Often, seeing is knowing. 

Andrew Carnegie 
donated $100,000 
for the library of 
Hawaii, the Legis- 
lature appropriat- 
ing an additional 




UPPER PICTURE, Y. M. C. A. BUILDING; LOWER, THE 
ALEXANDER YOUNG HOTEL, HONOLULU. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



153 



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THE HOME OF THE LATE CLAUS SPRECKELS, FORMER SUGAR KING, 

HONOLULU. 

$25,000. It includes the valuable library of the Hawaiian His- 
torical Society. There is a splendid Y. M. C. A. building. The 
members went out with the idea of raising $100,000 in ten 
days, but so liberal was the giving that they received $150,000 
in six days and had to close the subscription list. 

I found the homes of Honolulu most attractive. They are 
built like those of southern California for air, light and veranda 
space. In fact, the veranda is the important feature here and 
bears the native name, lanai. It is wide and vine-shaded, over- 
looking the glory of Hawaii, the tropical garden. Every trav- 
eler from a temperate land marvels at a conservatory out of 
doors. Here the poinciana spreads its huge flaming umbrellas 




MR. BOYCE IN MR. DAMON S BEAUTIFUL JAPANESE GARDENS 
NEAR HONOLULU. 



156 OUR COLONIES 

of orange or scarlet; the golden shower hangs its clusters of 
yellow bells ; the pride of India is a mass of lavender ; while 
the cacia nodessa, loveliest of all, resembles a giant apple tree 
in blossom, with its great sheaves of pink bloom. Now just 
imagine a tangle of vines and creepers, great lily leaves, tasseled 
palms, gigantic banyans and you will see almost any one's 
garden in the Territory of Hawaii. The night-blooming cereus 
is one of the wonders. Near Honolulu, on Moanalua, the 
estate of Mr. Damon, are the wonderful Japanese Gardens, 
said to rival in beauty any of those in Japan. 

The one thing still Hawaiian about the town is the names 
of many of the streets. Nuuanu, Punahou and Alakea fall 
softly on foreign ears. King Street, Fort and Bishop show the 
American touch. There are churches on every street, churches 
of every denomination. In one of them, Kawaiahao, services 
are still conducted in the Hawaiian tongue. This church was 
dedicated in 1842 by the missionaries and is built of coral rock. 
The finest buildings of the city are of gray-blue native lava 
stone. 

A city, its buildings, streets, homes and gardens tell us much 
of a people, but after all we are always more interested in the 
people themselves. Hawaii is the Crossroads of the Pacific, 
where Asiatics by the thousands have come to join Uncle Sam's 
family ! It is worth studying. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



A RACE MELTING-POT. 



4 4/^^AN'T you tell 'em apart — the Chinese and the Japs?'' 
V_y It was my Honolulu coachman, native of St. Louis, 
Mo., who asked. 

It was not easy. For an hour I had been trying to label 
them, with indifferent success. Of course I could distinguish 
the nationalities of the women, the glossy-haired Chinese with 
their jade ornaments and baggy trousers, as well as the little 
daughters of Nippon with their graceful kimonos and babies 
strapped to their backs. But the men ! Not so easy. All 
wore American clothes and there was no longer a pigtail in 
sight. Many Chinese have eyes minus the slant, and many 
Japanese look just like Chinese. In Hawaii they are particu- 
larly hard to distinguish from each other. 

These Asiatics, more than any other people in Honolulu, 
interested me because there were so many of them. At the 




MEN OF MANY LANDS ON HONOLULU WATERFRONT. 
157 



\ 



158 



OUR COLONIES 



last census there were 80,000 Japanese, over 20,000 of them 
born under the Stars and Stripes. Now there are more, for 
every month about 300 Japanese women arrive and every 
woman has a baby, after a while, born on American soil — a 
full-fledged American citizen. In twenty-one years he can 




LITTLE JAPANESE-AMERICANS. 



160 OUR COLONIES 

vote ! Japan, unless our laws are changed, will some day con- 
trol the Hawaiian Islands with the franchise. 

The figures are startling. We put a check on Japanese 
immigration, some years ago, by a "gentlemen's agreement," 
between the two nations ; but evidently it did not apply to "the 
ladies." I straightway decided to look up a Government official 
and find out just what races are being admitted into our lodge 
through this side door, 2,000 miles from the mainland. I had 
not gone far with the investigation before it dawned on me 
that Hawaii is not only "The Crossroads of the Pacific," as 
acclaimed by its proud inhabitants, but also the place where the 
blood strains of the world are being crossed. Queer branches, 
these, being grafted onto our family tree — our oceanic melting- 
pot, where a new type of American is being produced. 

If you will pick up a Honolulu telephone book, you will 
discover whole pages of Ah's, more than would greet you at the 
finest exhibition of fireworks. There are "Ah Sams" and "Ah 
Sings" and yards of other "Ah's" — 20,000 Chinese in all on the 
islands — but they ship over to California for higher wages 
whenever they get a chance. 

"Do the Hawaiians marry the Orientals?" I asked an old 
settler. 

"The women do," he said. "They marry the Chinese, who 
make very good husbands. A Chinese not only works in the 
field, but helps his Hawaiian wife with the housework and 
'minds the children.' Hawaiian husbands play the guitar." 

The pure Hawaiians are decreasing over 12 per cent a year. 
There are only 25,000 of them left and the race is doomed to 
extinction ; but the strain will live on, in fact, it is on the 
increase. The number of part-Hawaiians has jumped up 60 
per cent during the last ten years. The native girls were 
sought in marriage by Europeans and Americans, as well as by 
the Orientals. They had the land. Today there are: Irish- 
Hawaiians, English-Hawaiians, French-Hawaiians, German- 
Hawaiians, Spanish-Hawaiians, Portuguese-Hawaiians and 
American-Hawaiians. The children resulting from these 
crosses are often rather attractive in appearance. 




12 



HAWAIIAN HUMAN TYPES. 



1 62 



OUR COLONIES 



It is pathetic to note the passing of the Kanaka, as the 
Hawaiian loves to call himself. "And there was much in his 
method of government superior to ours," one deep American 
thinker and close observer informed me. 

"You see," he said, "they kept their race strong and fit until 
the coming of the white man with his 'improved civilization/ 
They got rid of their insane and depraved by sending word, on 
a dark night, that the gods wished to speak with them. Then 
a blow on the head at the temple door ! Now we acquit mur- 
derers, or board them at the expense of the nation, and encour- 
age the unfit to survive." 

I heard a story of a native on an island far to the south 
who came into court to claim title to a piece of land. The 
Judge said the man had no right to it, that it belonged to a 
missionary. 

"Oh, I know he did own it," said the native. "But my 
father ate him and absorbed the title !" 

When the white man first got control of the land in Hawaii, 
he set the native to work for him. But the Kanaka is not a 
good worker, so, at an early date, the planter imported Asiatics. 




FILIPINO IMMIGRANTS IN HAWAII. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 163 




JAPANESE LABORERS, HAWAII. 

The first country tapped was China, and the Celestials came in 
when Hawaii was still a kingdom. They came under contract to 
receive thirteen dollars a month, and it is now admitted that 
they are the best of the Orientals on the island. As faithful 
workers the Chinese are surpassed by the laborers of scarcely 
any other race. When Hawaii became a part of the American 
Union, Chinese were debarred and the planters turned to 
Japan. The Japs were good workers in those days and came 
in so fast that they overflowed into California, which brought 
a protest from the Coast laborers. 

During the days of Hawaiian rule, many Portuguese were 
brought from the Azores and Madeira. Their native lands 
are also volcanic islands where gardens smile, and they took 
kindly to their new environment. Today they are considered 
the best sort of citizens, honest and industrious. There are 
25,000 of them, as many as there are Hawaiians. 

Still, the labor proved inadequate for the working of the 
great sugar estates, so 5,000 Spaniards have been brought in; 
5,000 Porto Ricans, and a sample order of 2,000 Russians. 
Just to make sure that there are enough Asiatics, 5,000 Koreans 



164 OUR COLONIES 

have been imported ! The expense, especially in the case of 
the European immigrants, has been enormous. It cost almost 
$1,000,000 to coax all these families here, a rather large sum 
for the landing of each man. 

As a Federal law prohibits "the assisting of immigration 
with money privately contributed," an income tax was passed 
calling for two per cent on all incomes over $4,000. This 
seemed to solve the problem. But here the joker appeared! 
After the Territory of Hawaii had invested this fortune in 
imported labor, the California fruit growers and Alaska can- 
ners urged the workers "just a little farther on." "Stop it!" 
cried the Hawaiian planters and immediately made "the indu- 
cing of labor to leave the islands" a crime punishable by a 
heavy fine. But this did not wholly check the exodus. 

However, in workers imported from the Philippines the 
Hawaiian planters seem to have found labor which will "stand 
without hitching" and some 8,000 or 10,000 of them have 
arrived during the past three years. This may prove of benefit 
to the Philippines, as some of the men may carry home the 
industrial training received, but it adds still another touch to 
the color scheme of Hawaii. 

Now we have : Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Porto 
Ricans, Spaniards, Portuguese, Russians, 200 negroes from the 
Southern States, a few Hindus, some South Sea Islanders, and 
the Hawaiian half-bloods, besides the pure Hawaiians and 
the Caucasians. It is estimated that there are 45,000 Cau- 
casians in all on the islands, out of a population of 200,000, so 
every fourth inhabitant is white. 

There is a Honolulu romance surrounding — "a strange 
amalgamation, twixt two such funny nations" — the wedding 
of a Chinese and a Portuguese. Away back in 1858, Wing 
Ah Fong came over to Honolulu with a shipload of Celestials. 
Young, intelligent and genial, with a little capital, he soon 
became the leading silk and bric-a-brac merchant. He fell in 
love with pretty, dark-eyed Concepcion, daughter of a Por- 
tuguese sailor, and they were married in i860. Prospering, Ah 
Fong invested in sugar-cane fields and in ten years was worth 





UNDER THE TWO FLAGS, HONOLULU. 



i66 



OUR COLONIES 




CHURCH IN HAWAII BUILT OF CORAL ROCK. 




THE ROYAL HAWAIIAN BAND. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



167 



$300,000, which steadily increased to $3,000,000. The family 
circle expanded at about the same gait until, in 1890, it con- 
sisted of three boys and thirteen girls. Ah Fong was a devoted 
father and was delighted that his daughters resembled their 
good-looking mother. He had a Concord coach built, in which 
he exhibited the entire family on four wheels, one of the sights 
of the island. On his firstborn, a boy, the father's interest, 
however, centered. 

In 1892, after months spent in arranging his business, the 
rich Chinaman sailed away with his eldest son to visit his boy- 
hood home in the Flowery Kingdom. Since then the streets 
of Honolulu have known him no more. But the hospitality of 
the Ah Fong mansion has never waned and the real estate has 
increased in value. In 1904 Captain Whitney, U. S. A., mar- 
ried Miss Harriet Ah Fong, and other Europeans and Ameri- 

^^_^^^^^^^^„ , cans have wedded 

her sisters. The 
girls have been 
noted for their 
beauty and talent, 
and a halo of ro- 
mance has clung 







to them, through 
all the changes 
which time has 
brought in these 
islands. But where 
are the father and 
brother ? Rumor 
has placed them 
in prominent posi- 
tions in the land of 
their ancestors. 




NATIVE HAWAIIAN GIRLS AT A PICNIC AND 
BATHING. 



168 OUR COLONIES 

A drive through the tenement district of Honolulu reveals 
excellent sanitary conditions. Here people of alien races live 
in harmony, in spite of differing customs and language barriers. 
The immigrant children soon attend the public schools where 
only English is taught. The Chinese, especially, seem hungry 
for an English education. In the last class graduated from 
Oahu College, eleven out of the twenty- four were Chinese. All 
the races have their newspapers, the last to be launched being 
a Filipino daily. Chinese children soon adopt American dress, 
and the little almond-eyed lasses, bound for school, follow the 
latest Parisian mode even to the bows in their hair. 

When the public schools close at two o'clock, the Japanese 
children take up their studies again at the Japanese school, for 
the little brown men cling to their own language and customs, 
even though they are willing to learn about other people's. 
They, less than any of the others, adopt our American ways. 
They live in Hawaii and earn their money there, but they send 
much of it home to Japan. Probably the most ambitious people 
on earth, they are the least inclined to shift their nationality. 

If a real war cloud should ever gather between America and 
Japan you can be pretty certain that the Japanese on these 
islands, no matter where they were born, would fight for the 
Mikado. But Uncle Sam is not asleep. Quietly and stead- 
fastly he has been fortifying his mid-Pacific Isles, and 15,000 
soldiers and the mightiest guns on earth will guard the Terri- 
tory of Hawaii. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



OUR MID-OCEAN PLAYGROUND. 

KAMEHAMEHA DAY came whiie I was in Hawaii. It is 
an anniversary in honor of the great Hawaiian ruler, first 
to surrender the feudal tenure of land for the benefit of the 
people. The celebrations have always been under the auspices 
of the Order of Kamehameha, and the principal feature has 
been aquatic sports, which every Hawaiian loves. 

It was a great day for Honolulu. Two world's records 
were broken ! When it comes to the royal sport of swimming, 
take off your hat to the mermen and mermaids of our mid- 




DUKE P. KAHANAMOKU AND RUTH WAYSON STACKER, CHAMPION 

SWIMMERS OF THE WORLD. 

169 



170 



OUR COLONIES 



Pacific playground. The King and Queen of the surf both 
live in Hawaii. 

Ruth Wayson Stacker, a slim, graceful little nymph, lowered 
the world's swimming record for women for fifty yards, taking 
the championship from Fannie Durack of Australia. Duke P. 
Kahanamoku, who won the world's championship at Stockholm, 
Sweden, lowered his own record in three events. The Hui 
Nahu team lowered the three-hundred-yard relay — six men — 
race record, previously held by the New York Athletic Club. 

As the records were announced, one after another, the 
crowd went mad and cheered with all its might. As 5,000 
people were on hand, it was "some cheering." 

Kahanamoku is a great hero in Hawaii. Sent to the United 
States two years ago to compete for a place on the American 
team at the Olympic games, he made a brilliant showing, nota- 




SURF- RIDING IN OUTRIGGER CANOES, WAIKIKI BEACH. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 171 





% 






?fr 



SURF-RIDING ON BOARDS AT WAIKIKI BEACH, HONOLULU. 

bly at Chicago. Later he won the world's record at Stockholm. 
Honolulu gave him a royal welcome on his return home and he 
was lionized throughout the islands. A fund was collected with 
which to purchase a home for him at Waikiki, within the sound 
of the surf he so loves. 

There is no finer sea-bathing on earth than at Waikiki. This 
attractive suburb of Honolulu stretches along the shore from 
the city proper to Diamond Head. It boasts a splendid hotel 
and many fine residences, including the home of Prince Kuhio 
Kalanianaole, known as Prince Cupid, delegate to Congress 
from the Territory of Hawaii. 

The chief pastime at Waikiki is surf-riding, the national 
sport of old. It might be called "water-tobogganing." The 
great ocean roll, unhalted in its two-thousand-mile course, 
strikes a coral reef off the island, leaping over it in a mighty 
bound. Out from the beach swims a band of bronze athletes 
with their shining black surf-boards. Reaching the reef, they 
wait for a great wave and ride in on its crest. The most dar- 
ing stand erect with arms outstretched. The sight of a flock 



172 



OUR COLONIES 



of these water-birds skimming shoreward over the sparkling 
tropic sea is alone worth the voyage to Hawaii. 

In the old days the natives took great care of their surf- 
boards, rubbing them with coconut oil and wrapping them in 
tap a cloth after each outing. They were made of koa, the 
Hawaiian mahogany, and were longer than those in use today. 

A tamer sport, but one much in vogue with those who are 
not daring swimmers, is canoe-surfing, the outriggers on the 
long canoes making an upset next to impossible. Two popular 
clubs here are the Outriggers (a canoe club) and the Trail 
and Mountain Club, which has cut trails all over the island 
of Oahu, up to the highest peaks, making travel quite easy. 

The trans-Pacific yacht 
race is becoming a feature 
of Hawaii. In a recent con- 
test four yachts set sail from 
San Pedro, in southern Cali- 
fornia, for Honolulu, repre- 
senting the San Pedro, San 
Francisco, British Columbia 
and Honolulu clubs. The 
Lurline from San Pedro 
proved the winner. 





FLOWER SELLERS, HONOLULU. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



173 



Golf, polo, tennis, motoring, in fact, almost every branch 
of sport, has Hawaiian devotees. In the late afternoon the 
Country Club in Nuuanu Valley near Honolulu is the meeting 

place for society, as cosmopolitan 
and cultured a society as can be 
found in the largest American city. 
In depending on itself, Honolulu 
has gone ahead with tremendous 
bounds, and is far more metropoli- 
tan than many places of equal pop- 
ulation. No doubt its being such 
an important army post has had 
something to do with it. 

Every Washington's Birthday 
for the last eight years has been 
celebrated by a floral parade. Those 





FEMALE HAWAIIAN RIDING COSTUME. 



174 OUR COLONIES 

who have witnessed similar shows in Italy and California agreed 
that the one here February last established a world's record. 
Flowers have always been one of the distinctive features of 
the islands. The natives of old bedecked themselves with 
garlands, and the prettiest of all Hawaiian customs is the 
giving of lets, or ropes of flowers, in parting. Women sit in 
rows along the sidewalks offering blossom-chains to the passer- 
by. This soft tropical land seems a fitting home for the god- 
dess Flora. 

As an added attraction, last Floral Day, three thousand 
American soldiers paraded in the morning and were received 
by the Governor. The pageant in the afternoon showed six 
hundred decorated automobiles and other vehicles. While 
artificial flowers were used by some, because of their lasting 
quality, prizes were awarded only to natural flower exhibits. 

"Princesses" representing the islands of the group were a 
feature, with their pages and attendants. Then came the pa'u 
riders, one hundred young native women wearing the pa'u cos- 
tume, peculiar to Hawaii, a most unusual garment to the 
stranger. It looks like a pair of elongated bloomers and would 
cause a sensation even in Central Park, New York. 

Baseball thrives in Hawaii. All races take to it. Great 
was the surprise, I may say consternation, when a team com- 
posed entirely of Chinese defeated the best nine the United 
States army could produce. 

From 8,000 to 10,000 tourists visit the islands each year. 
Many linger for months fascinated by the sports on land and 
sea. Just how much this "crop" is worth to the island is hard 
to estimate, but it certainly reaches the million-dollar mark. 
This does not include the trans-Pacific passengers who stop 
here for a day en route to and from the Orient and Australia. 
There are several steamers each week, so foreign money helps 
"keep up the camp." Then there are the army transports 
bound for Manila. They leave San Francisco on the fifth of 
each month. Pay day is the tenth, just in time for Honolulu, 
and as they remain over night at the docks, there is little diffi- 
culty in annexing the soldier boys' pay envelopes. Consider- 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



175 



able attention has been given by the Honolulu Promotion 
Committee to the rotation of crops of visitors who will shed 
coin into the local cash registers during the four seasons of the 
year. Formerly the hotels were crowded only in the winter, 
but each year finds "the season" extended, and even the sum- 
mer now has its quota of visitors. 

It is a curious fact, but the Hawaiians have no word in their 
language to express the term "weather," due to the fact that 
there is but a slight range in temperature. The sea breeze is 
always blowing, so the islanders have the right to invite their 
fellow Americans over to play "any old time." 

"He comes here to fish," remarked the hotel clerk in speak- 




SHARKS CAUGHT IN HONOLULU HARBOR. 



176 OUR COLONIES 

ing to me of a tanned New Yorker in corduroys. "Sharks! 
He's mad over them, and there are thousands in these waters. 
They catch 'em by spearing, the spear attached to a cord, and 
the rascals put up a tremendous fight. Bother the bathers? 
Not a bit of it ! You see all our beaches are protected by a 
coral reef and the sharks won't pass it. They hate shallow 
water, as they must turn over either to attack or defend them- 
selves. But if you want to see some weird fishes, go up to the 
aquarium." 

No lesser authority than Dr. David Starr Jordan, president 
of Leland Stanford University, has declared that the Hono- 
lulu aquarium is second only in importance to the one in Naples, 
Italy, and that it surpasses all others in the beauty of its speci- 
mens. They certainly have tanked in a most remarkable lot of 
finny deep-sea comedians. There are some with double noses, 
others in convict garb. One wise old fish, with a number of 
ribbon tails, has a fiery red spot on the end of his nose like an 
old toper. Every color of the rainbow is displayed by this 
specimen of the finny tribe. 

The Japanese, who now practically control the deep-sea 
fishing, keep the aquarium supplied with "display fish" for a 
fancy price. Every effort to colonize these strange Hawaiian 
fish is said to have failed and they can be seen only in their 
native waters. One finds many of them for sale in the fish 
markets. 

The Chinese attend to the fish ponds, which were much in 
vogue in the days of the early Hawaiians. They have a system 
here of raising fish for food, within ponds adjacent to the sea. 
The Chinese took up the net dropped by the Kanakas and have 
made the business profitable. 

The most unique sport in the islands is "fishing" for flying 
fish with a shotgun. Launches are used and you take pot-shots 
at the buzzing blue fish on the wing. This makes a decided hit 
with the novelty-hunting tourist, who returns to the mainland 
with a mounted specimen of "a flying fish I shot down in Hono- 
lulu." A man who has established a record with clay pigeons 
remarked to me that this Hawaiian sport is like "shooting at a 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



177 



blue rock during an earthquake." They recover the fish with 
a hand net and in contests the umpire acts as scorer. The best 
record attained up to the time of my visit was eight kills out 
of ten shots. As one has to shoot from a rolling, pitching 
boat, it proved to be about the best sport I ever had. 

At the time of my visit the more conservative people of the 




city were a bit doubtful as to the 
honor conferred upon them by 
the new and popular song: 
"Hula! Hula! Honolulu!" The 
young people seemed to like it, 
however, and I heard the chorus 
whistled on every street. 

"Yes, it's against the law to 
dance the hula," said a man of 
whom I inquired. "You see this 
is still a missionary land, lots of 
people descended from the good 
old stock, and they've used their 
influence against it. There is an 



13 




EXAMPLES OF THE HULA-HULA 
DANCE, HAWAII. 



178 OUR COLONIES 

expurgated edition of the dance at the cheaper theaters to sup- 
ply a little local color for the tourists, and occasionally, on the 
quiet, there's a real dance, with the loud thumping missing, so 
as not to scare up the police." 

The hula-hula is peculiar to Hawaii, although dances 
resembling it are found among other races. It has a running 
accompaniment of song and clanging gourds, and the effect of 
this savage music on the dancers is magical. In gymnastic 
contortion and general muscular variation, the hula outclasses 
all other wild, primitive exhibitions. 

Another great Hawaiian custom is the luau, or native feast 
out-of-doors, the acme of hospitality. Roast pig, cooked with 
red-hot stones in an underground oven, is the leading dish; 
and then there are fish of all kinds, breadfruit and royal pink 
poi, made from the taro plant. Every one sits about in a 
circle on the ground and dips his fingers into the calabash filled 
with poi, which does not look unlike corn meal. 

A few years ago a Congressional party visited the islands 
and a luau was served to them about every day. After two 
weeks of this woodland feasting, one of the Congressmen 
chanced to glance in at a window where a home meal was being 
prepared. Waving his arms frantically he called out to the 
others : 

''Come on, boys, something to eat at last! A real beef- 
steak! No more 'lulus* for me!" 



CHAPTER XV. 

OUR OCEAN STRONGHOLD. 

THE original Hawaiian language is soft and melodious. It 
was reduced to writing by the American missionaries, 
who used but twelve letters to convey its five vowels and seven 
consonants — a, e, i, o, u, h, k, 1, m, n, p and w. There are 
shades of sound in the language that might have admitted of 
two or three more letters, but it was thought best to use but 
twelve letters. The words are always soft. Oahu, for exam- 
ple. Try to pronounce it. "O-wah-hu." That's it ! Now try 
to remember it, for it means much to you and to me and to 
our country. The Stars and Stripes wave over it, and it prom- 
ises to be the most strongly fortified island in the world. We 
are spending millions on its defense, a guarantee that our flag 
will never be lowered to a foe from the East. 

But why did we select Oahu as our mid-Pacific stronghold ? 
It is not the largest of the Hawaiian group. No, not the 
largest, but it has an invaluable possession, a landlocked harbor 
— Pearl Harbor — the only haven within a thousand miles in 
any direction. For many years — seventy at least — the great 
nations have coveted Oahu, with its harbor. Kaiser Wilhelm, 
Emperor of Germany, asked the late Claus Spreckels, Hawaiian 
sugar king, a German by birth but an American by adoption, to 
call on him in Berlin. The Kaiser urged Mr. Spreckels to 
shape affairs so that the flag of Germany might eventually 
wave over Hawaii. 

"I told him 'No !' " related Mr. Spreckels, accenting his 
decision by a thump on the table. "I'll try to fix it so that 
the American flag shall wave over the islands !" 

Great Britain brought forth Queen Emma as a candidate 
for the throne, but the Americans in Hawaii selected King 

179 



i8o 



OUR COLONIES 



Kalakaua, who had their interests at heart, outgeneraling their 
British cousins. 

France also played her hand and, when we finally annexed 
the islands, Japan entered a protest, which is still on file in 
Washington, with a lot of other objections to our running our 
own country. 

The vital strategic importance of Pearl Harbor was long 
known to our Department of State, and its possession was 
urged by wise and prudent naval officers, who claimed that 
this mid-ocean fortress, refuge, base and coaling station, was 
absolutely necessary for the protection, preservation and pros- 
perity of our twenty-five hundred miles of Pacific Coast. If 
we possessed the Hawaiian Islands and fortified them, no 
foreign navy, harborless within thousands of miles, could reach 
our west coast prepared to fight, much less to get away. 

President Grant recognized this, and back in 1873 sent 
General Schofield to the islands to select a site for a naval 
station. Schofield's report was favorable to Pearl Harbor and 
Congress was urged to act quickly, but it took eleven years to 
secure the right to fortify the harbor and twenty-odd years 
more before we began the work. 

Finally our army and navy officials took hold of the gigantic 






9a 







GENERAL VIEW OF PEAKL 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



181 



task of making Oahu as impregnable as Gibraltar or the Island 
of Malta. It did not take them long to decide on the fortify- 
ing of the extinct volcano, Diamond Head, the landmark of the 
island. A climb and a look around ! Then the largest mortar 
battery in the world was placed behind the mountain, the 
signaling being done from within the very crater itself. The 
ocean has been platted, target practice conducted, and when 
the order "Put one in square fifty-one !" is flashed to the bat- 
tery, the imaginary enemy in square fifty-one "receives the 
message." Death and destruction belch forth on the phantom 
foe aiming to invade the islands. 

When the natives, still living in superstitious dread of the 
volcano goddess, first heard of our plans they decided we were 
mad. The goddess, they announced, would revenge the inva- 
sion of her domain. Uncle Sam, however, had his nerve with 
him! 

Punch Bowl, a lesser extinct crater, has been surveyed, and 
every means will be employed in the defense of Pearl Harbor. 

All our army posts are on the southern and western slopes 
of the island. A mountain range protects Honolulu on the 
north and east. We have an artillery post at Fort Ruger, 
directly north of Diamond Head ; a battery of three-inch guns 




*.. 




HARBOR. OAHU ISLAND. 



1 82 OUR COLONIES 

at Fort Armstrong and six and fourteen-inch guns at Fort de 
Russy, both between Diamond Head and Honolulu. Fort 
Kamehameha, near Pearl Harbor, and Fort Shafer, just out of 
Honolulu, are also equipped with high-power guns. 

The Army Board decided that 15,000 regular soldiers 
would be required to defend Oahu, augmented by the 3,000 
National Guard of Hawaii. In order to raise the requisite 
number of men the companies of infantry have been filled 
beyond their war strength, and it is proposed to raise them 
to 250 men each, which is double their war strength. It is 
true that in Europe they have companies of 250 men, but 
they have five officers to a company. Our companies have but 
three. 

There is a limit to the number of men which a given num- 
ber of officers can properly train in peace and efficiently handle 
on the battlefield in war. When that limit is passed, while the 
total number of men may be what is wished, the efficiency is 
far from being what it should be. In other words, after a 
regiment has reached a certain strength, instead of adding more 
men to that regiment in order to increase the force, more regi- 
ments should be added. 

Whenever the condition of our national defense is looked 
into grave defects always are found. A further examination 
will always show that these defects have been pointed out to 
Congress and that Congress has been pleased to disregard them. 
We are a democracy and democracies are slow in military 
matters. 

Practically all branches of the mobile forces in Oahu have 
been placed back on the uplands at Schofield barracks, eighteen 
miles from Honolulu. The soldiers at Schofield are so cen- 
trally placed that they can be rushed to the defense of any 
part of the island. 

Recently a mimic war was carried on by the troops, divided 
into two armies. The location of the barracks was approved, 
but it was decided that the garrison must be kept up to full 
strength. This has caused activity in recruiting centers on the 
mainland and a special line of transports has been established 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



183 



between San Francisco and Honolulu. The capital of Hawaii 
has taken on a decidedly military appearance. 

"There is no use of your taking your camera or photog- 
rapher to Pearl Harbor or the forts," said a friend of mine 
in Honolulu. "The Admiral and General don't care to have 
their works 'over-exposed' while their plans are still unde- 
veloped." 

I took the hint and went to Pearl Harbor alone. The 
world-renowned haven is eight miles from Honolulu. It con- 
tains from ten to twelve square miles of deep water and is 
absolutely calm in any weather. The difficulty of making it 
practicable lay in the bar at the entrance and in the crooked 
channel leading to the inner bay. The dredging of the bar was 
started in 1898 and completed in 191 1, the channel straightened, 
and the cruiser California steamed through the four-and-a-half- 
mile passage into the wonderful bay. The dredging alone cost 




UNITED STATES SOLDIERS IN HAWAII, 



184 



OUR COLONIES 



$3,000,000, but today our entire navy can find safe anchorage 

here, with miles of room 
for our navy-to-be. 

The harbor's shores are 
low and deeply indented. 
Emerald cane-fields come 
down to the water's edge, 
glistening rice fields and 
1 patches of taro. On the 
eastern shore are the seven 
great industrial buildings, 
barracks and machine 
shops, alongside the dry 
dock. Herein lies a trage- 
dy of failure. But we will 
try again; in the end Un- 
cle Sam usually succeeds. 
Our naval experts de- 
cided that a dry dock at 
Pearl Harbor was a neces- 
sity, and their engineers 
located the site after many 




UPPER PICTURE, PAPAYA FRUTT ; LOWER, BREADFRUIT, 
HAWAII. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



185 




tests for a suitable foundation. 
The contractors' bid for $4,000,- 
000 was accepted and work be- 
gun. The dock was to be one 
thousand feet long, one hundred 
and ten feet wide and thirty- 
five feet deep — a giant dock. 
Work progressed rapidly, the 
contractors receiving $1,500,000 
on accepted portions. The 
foundations and dock floor were 
built under water. When the 
work was practically completed 
and the water was being pumped 
out. the floor buckled, the side 
walls fell in and the dock was a 
total wreck. 

The Government has com- 
pleted an examination of the 
geological structure of the foun- 
dation and it is understood that 
Admiral Stanford has reported that coral and lava will not 
support such weight, advising a floating dock. The con- 
tractors ask for the $2,500,000 still due, claiming that the 
United States should foot the bill. It looks as if we may have 
to pay $4,000,000 for a short course of study in geology. It 
seems that while a coral reef will support a healthy collection 
of coconut palms, something more substantial is required to 
cradle a dreadnought. 

I met a man from Missouri who was a bit pessimistic as to 
our security from attack. "All this talk about making vol- 
canoes fight for Uncle Sam is interesting, but it's the soldiers 
that count!" he declared. "Yes, we will have 15,000 men, but 
we only have 7,000 here right now, and I'm of the opinion that 
we need 30,000 at least. Why, the Japs could land 200,000 
men within two weeks on the unfortified side of Oahu and 
they'd swarm over the place like ants. And there are already 



NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS, 
OAHU ISLAND. 



186 OUR COLONIES 

15,000 adult Japs living on the islands who would join their 
countrymen. You'd better read 'The Valor of Ignorance.' ,J 

A military friend eased my fears. "Oahu!" he said. 
"Why, we are making it as impregnable as human ingenuity 
can devise. We are rushing our men in and pushing the forti- 
fications. No enemy can attack our Pacific Coast without 
taking Oahu, and you needn't worry about this little island. It 
is ours for all time !" I hope so. 

There is a splendid highway around and across Oahu and a 
railway skirts over half the shore line, tapping important sugar 
estates. Schofield barracks is reached by road and by rail, so 
that the army people add greatly to the social activity of Hon- 
olulu. Sports, dances and varied entertainments at Schofield 
also attract the society element of the city and on the coast, a 
few hours' drive from the barracks, is the attractive Haleiwa 
Hotel, a favorite resort for Saturday night dances and Sunday 
sea dips. While Oahu may be a bit over-advertised by zealous 
publicity organizations which flood the mainland with palm- 
trimmed literature, bordered in sunlit seas and starry skies, the 
fact remains that the officers like this post as well as any on the 
list. They have enticed the Chinese cooks from the old 
Hawaiian families with the bait of higher wages, and in fact 
have taken possession generally. But why not? Are they 
not the island's defenders? "And none but the brave deserve 
the 'fare.' " 

"Is this rain going to continue?" I inquired of an old citizen. 

"Rain? Why this isn,t rain," he replied, "it's what we call 
liquid sunshine. Don't you see that the sun's out? And look 
at the rainbow ! We always have 'em here." 

The truth is, the people do not mind the mistlike rain and I, 
too, came to disregard it. Under rain and rainbow I drove up 
the beautiful Nuuanu valley to the Pali, famed as the scenic 
wonder of Oahu. First past fine town houses and the 
royal mausoleum, where Hawaiian rulers lie; then out the 
wide valley road lined with magnificent homes whose spacious 
grounds are a wonderland of tropical foliage; up a gradual 
winding ascent, on the well-kept lava and coral highway, to the 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



187 



very summit of the jagged mountain range. The Pali cliff 
in the Hawaiian tongue marks the divide, and here a view of 
amazing grandeur bursts on the traveler. Sixteen hundred 
feet below lies the hill-strewn plain, washed by the sea. Over 
this precipice Kamehameha drove 3,000 warriors in the long 
ago — so the story runs. 

The trade-winds which blow from the Pacific nine months 
in the year bring abundant moisture, and the great rain-carved 
peaks here seem to notch the sky. The wind is so terrific at 
this point that a small stream falling over the cliff is often 
snatched and thrown back in its course. Far below the place 
of its defeat is the verdant plain and sea-lapped shore, now 
seen through mist, now in a patch of brilliant sunshine. The 
Hawaiians of old believed that a god dwelt on these heights, 
gazing eastward over the waters from whence no ship had ever 
come. Pali is Oahu's lookout facing our Pacific Coast, which 
it is bound to defend. 




NATIVES MAKING SEED LEIS OR WREATHS, OAHU ISLAND. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

KING CANE AND HIS COURT. 

THE Hawaiian Islands have known many rulers since they 
thrust their volcanic heads out of the depths of the ocean, 
but to King Sugar Cane, the powerful, the greatest tribute has 
been paid. Of late his subjects have been in deepest gloom. 
Their king is in grave danger, they claim. He may recover 
from his present illness, due to low prices, but his very life is 
threatened, they declare, by the assassin, "Free Sugar." 

Captain Cook reported that the Kanakas were chewing 
sugar cane when he discovered them. They gave little time 
to its cultivation, focusing all their attention on the taro root, on 
which they fattened puppies for special feasts. Cane, how- 
ever, got a fine start, nourished by good luck, and in time 
became the dominant industry of the islands. Its story reads 
like an Arabian Night's tale. 

Fifty years ago the planters exported 250 tons of sugar. 
Last year the export reached 600,000 tons. This is the one 




PLOWING LAND FOR SUGAR CANE. 
188 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



189 




LOADING CANE ON FLAT CARS, OAHU ISLAND. 



product which has been developed to its full capacity and, 
directly or indirectly, all other industries are dependent on it. 

The islands are blessed with the best of sugar soil. For 
centuries lava has been washing down from the heights, form- 
ing rich tracts along the seacoast. These lowlands are now 
devoted almost entirely to the production of cane ; in fact, all 
the suitable sugar land has been taken up by the planters. 
There are fifty of these great estates, and they are owned, with- 
out exception, by corporations. This incorporating spirit has 
been so developed that Hawaii is the best organized business 
community in the world. Practically every enterprise, from 
a peanut stand up, is handled by a corporation. 

The fifty companies form a unit — the Sugar Planters' Asso- 
ciation — which is more powerful than the territorial govern- 
ment itself. It has well been called "The Hawaiian House of 
Lords." 



ipo OUR COLONIES 

Behind the Planters' Association are its mighty trustees, 
nine of them, although the great bulk of the business is done 
by five. As business men, they have conducted affairs with 
rare intelligence. It has been a case of farming with brains. 

Away back in 185 1, the manager of what is now the Hon- 
olulu Iron Works invented the ' 'centrifugal" for drying sugar. 
Until this wonderful machine came into use, molasses was 
drained through brush, the sugar never becoming very dry and 
always of a dark color. 

When the Civil War cut off the sugar supply from the 
Southern States, Hawaii's output jumped up to 9,000 tons. 
But it was the treaty with the United States in 1887 that gave 
the islands their real boom, when Uncle Sam agreed to allow 
Hawaiian sugar to come in free of duty in exchange for a 
naval base at Pearl Harbor. Since then it has been easy sail- 
ing. The former protective tariff of $34 per ton on the sugar 
of other nations permitted the working of thousands of acres 
of Hawaiian land which, they claim, but which I doubt, would 
not have been profitable otherwise. Today there are 200,000 
acres of cane under cultivation, an acre for every inhabitant. 
Lands have been reclaimed by irrigation, artesian water 
pumped to higher levels and distributed by flumes. Many 
mountain reservoirs have been built, feeding thousands of 
ditches. Imported fertilizer has been used with no sparing 
hand. Today Hawaii is producing over four tons of cane per 
acre, while Cuba's average is but slightly over two tons. Just 
stop to consider what this means : 600,000 tons per year from 
islands with only 200,000 inhabitants ! Three tons per inhab- 
itant, or fifty times their own weight in sugar! 

Of course there have been problems to solve. A few 
years ago a wicked leaf-hopper devastated the plantations. 
Men were dispatched to many parts of the world in search of 
a parasite to kill the hopper. They found one and the cane 
was saved. Then there have been the labor problems. Uncle 
Sam excluded the Chinese. The Japanese struck for higher 
pay, managing to get $1 per day, with a bonus for working a 
full month. Then the Japs were prohibited from coining in 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



191 



and the planters were obliged to gather field hands from the 
four corners of the earth. 

Naturally, fortunes have been stacked up, with a crop selling 
close to $50,000,000 annually, one-third of which was clear 
profit. The Ewa is one of the big plantations. Its original 
stockholders put up $1,000,000 and received 5 per cent per 
month in profits. Finally they had a stock dividend and 
$4,000,000 in new stock was distributed among the share- 
holders. Even after that they received 18 per cent dividends, 
or 90 per cent on the original investment. 




FLUME CONVEYING WATER FOR IRRIGATING SUGAR CANE. 



iQ2 OUR COLONIES 

"How many stockholders are there in these corporations?" 
I asked a man who sold sugar machinery. 

"Over 9,000, but they are small ones ; the bulk of the stock 
is owned by the Big Five," he said. "You see, the old mission- 
aries had the best chance to get hold of the land — the Cookes, 
the Castles, the Alexanders and others. Have you ever heard 
why Oahu is the richest island in the world? Well, it has a 
Diamond Head; a Pearl Harbor; the largest Punch Bowl on 
earth; it is filled with Castles and all the Cookes are million- 
aires. But, seriously, the missionary families have been very 
liberal in giving large sums of money to charity and for the 
improvement of the islands generally." 

Early German and English settlers also acquired large tracts 
of land, many of them marrying Hawaiian women who held 
title to it, and a few full-blooded natives somehow held on to 
their property and are able now to live in idleness on their 
rentals. 

"What show is there for a white settler?" I asked an old 
timer. 

"Well," he said, "it's been a bit discouraging in the past, with 
all the best land gobbled up by the sugar kings. But there's 
still a chance to homestead on Government land which has only 
been leased to the planters, and now these leases are running 
out. You can imagine the influence that is being brought to 
bear for the renewal of the leases. The Government fears 
that even though the land is given to homesteaders, they may 
later sell out to the sugar barons, creating a land monopoly for 
all time. This has been the live political issue in Hawaii." 

And what will really happen with sugar free? I heard 
many opinions expressed.* Some say the sugar grower in 
Hawaii is not in a position to compete with the world. It was 
pointed out to me that it takes eighteen months to raise a crop 
of cane in Hawaii, while in Cuba nature produces a crop in 

*Note: — As this volume goes to press word comes from Hawaii 
that, owing- to the present European war and consequent higher 
prices for sugar, the feeling and financial situation in the islands are 
improving. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



193 



from ten to twelve months. Much irrigation is necessary in 
Hawaii. The fertilizer comes, mainly, from Chile, a rather 
long haul. Freight is expensive and the sugar can go to the 
mainland only on ships flying the American flag and charging 
higher freight rates than foreign ships. This is one side of 
the case. Some will tell you six per cent looks like a loss to 
capital paying ninety per cent. 

Then the Hawaiians fear competition from Formosa and 
Borneo, where labor is very cheap. The Honolulu Iron Works 
recently built several complete sugar mills for Formosa, which 
is now part of the Japanese empire. 




Some of the men I talked 
with were optimistic, believ- 
ing that all the plantations 
would continue, even with 
greatly reduced dividends, and 
that other industries would 
grow. They were hopeful that 
a new combined cane cutter 



14 



HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLES. 



194 



OUR COLONIES 



and loader, just invented by a local engineer, would greatly 
reduce the expense of labor. The rough model did fine work 
and much is expected from the perfected machine. 

Pineapples have a great future in Hawaii. Last year over 
1,000,000 cases, of two dozen two-pound cans, were exported, 
and the 19 13 crop sold for about $5,000,000. The largest 
pineapple cannery in the world is in Honolulu. The growers 
receive $22 per ton for first-quality pines and $14 for 
smaller sizes. Some good pineapple land has recently been 
placed on the market by the Government, attracting a number 
of American homesteaders. Pineapple juice is bottled and sent 
abroad as a summer beverage. A farmer who has ten acres 
in pines told me that he realized a profit of $2,500 last year. 

The algaroba industry made the deepest impression on me. 
I saw the original tree, brought to Oahu from Central America 
by Father Bertolott in 1837. Now the trees are all over the 
islands, and from the pods a meal is made for food for live 







CARABAO, OR WATER BUFFALO, BROUGHT FROM THE FAR 
EAST TO WORK IN RICE FIELDS. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



195 




IN A RICE FIELD, HAWAII. 



stock. Two companies have been organized and the United 
States Government has purchased the entire output of one mill 
for use by the cavalry at Schofield barracks. Algaroba meal 
sells for $24 per ton and is considered a well-balanced ration. 
The remarkable part of the industry is that the pods begin to 
drop just as the school vacations start, so children gather the 
harvest at $10 per ton. One company plans to set out 1,000,- 
000 trees, and gather the pods by a machine rake, so algaroba 
meal may some day be popular all over the United States. 

Rice is cultivated on about 12,000 acres, but there is a 
general depression in the industry. Only Chinese labor is 
available and this is getting scarce. Experienced Asiatics alone 
seem to understand the work. Water buffaloes plod beside 
their masters in the mud, strong, patient creatures, imported 
from the Orient. The rental for rice land is high, hence it is 
difficult to make a profit. 

Coffee, cotton, sisal, honey and soy beans are among the 
lesser industries. Coffee is one of the oldest industries and 



196 



OUR COLONIES 



about half the crop finds a local market. The future for cotton 
lies in the controlling of insect pests, which have become the 
great problem of Hawaii. There are about 3,000 acres now 
in sisal, which promises to become an important industry. The 
island honey is peculiar, less than 20 per cent being floral honey, 
the balance honey-dew from the sugar-cane leaf-hopper. The 
soy beans are used in the manufacture of soy sauce, so popular 
in China and India. 

At the hotel I learned that the asparagus, artichokes and 
cauliflower served to us came from California and do not 
prosper in Hawaii. They have had every sort of insect pest, 
one of the worst being the Mediterranean fruit fly, which has 
played havoc with citrus fruits, mangoes, peaches, guavas, figs 
and avocados. Bananas and pineapples have escaped the 
scourge, so they can be shipped to the mainland. Plant pests 




OLD-TIME HAWAIIANS PREPARING RICE. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 19? 

once introduced on the islands run riot, as there is no cold 
weather to check them. An Italian scientist, dispatched by 
the territorial government to West Africa recently, returned 
with an enemy which fairly dotes, he declares, on Mediterra- 
nean flies, preferring them to anything on the bill of fare. We 
hope he may not be oversanguine. 

The introduction of enemies, however, is often dangerous. 
The Minah birds, brought from Australia to attack a pest, have 
chased about all the other birds off the islands. The mongoos, 
imported to kill the rats, have followed in the spirit of harmony 
among races, so noticeable in Hawaii, and wedded the rats. 
Today there is a new breed, half mongoos, half rat. 

The kukui, or candlenut, is native to Hawaii. Kanaka 
torches of old were strings of kukui nuts, ten or twelve of 
them, all aglow, on the rib of a coconut leaf. Today 10,000 
gallons of kukui nut oil is exported from the islands, used in 
preserving wood, as a paint oil, and, to a limited extent, for 
medical purposes. As a paint oil it is said to be superior to 
linseed. 

The most promising of the newer industries is that of 
tobacco, just emerging from the experimental stage. A cigar 
factory has already been started with Hawaiian and Filipino 
workmen. The ancient Hawaiians knew nothing about the use 
of tobacco, but when it was introduced by the whites they 
quickly adopted it and passed the pipe around the circle as the 
American Indians did. The old chiefs carried their tobacco 
in coconut shells and used pipes of great size carved out of 
whale ivory. Today the Hawaiians use the weed in the world's 
prevailing fashions. 



I 



CHAPTER XVII. 
some: great volcanoes. 

N CALIFORNIA the question oftenest put to visitors is: 
"What do you think of our climate?" In Hawaii it is: 
"What do you think of our volcanoes?" In truth, one might 
as well visit Rome and miss the Vatican or go to Washington 
and stay away from the Capitol as to visit Hawaii and not take 
a look at its volcanoes. 

Almost every other person in Honolulu will tell you that 
they have the greatest active volcano on earth over on the 
island of Hawaii. As a side attraction they offer the greatest 
extinct volcano in the world on the island of Maui. 

They do not advertise the leper settlement on the island of 
Molokai, but it has always had a strange fascination for me, 
so I determined to see it on my way back from the volcanoes. 
At the Inter-Island Steamship office we paid twenty-five dollars 
each for round-trip tickets, including visits to all points of 
interest except the leper settlement. We found that we would 
have to make a special trip to the leper colony, as visitors must 
obtain a permit from the Government. 

The rough sea on the inter-island voyage is notorious, hence 
we were pleased to learn that the Mauna Kea, on which we 
booked passage, is the largest of a fleet of six vessels, boasting 
a tonnage of 1,500. We were off at ten o'clock in the morning 
on a boisterous sea. The boat jumped about like an acrobat 
and nearly all the passengers paid tribute to Neptune. That 
day we "made" two ports on the island of Maui, but I kept on 
to Hawaii, which we coasted the next morning, counting thirty 
waterfalls tumbling down the verdant cliffs marking its north- 
ern shore. We docked at Hilo, the chief city of the island, 
200 miles from Honolulu, after twenty-one hours of actual 
steaming. 

198 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



199 



Hawaii is the big island of the group — in fact, larger than 
all the other islands combined. Its area of 4,000 square miles 
puts it above Porto Rico, and it is only a trifle smaller than the 
State of Connecticut. Hilo, with 7,000 inhabitants, is the sec- 
ond city of the islands. The sugar produced near Hilo is sent 
directly to San Francisco and New York. On the other side 
of the island from Hilo, called the Kona Coast, the larger 
portion of the coffee produced in the islands is grown, over 
three and a half million pounds annually. 

Hilo is, of course, nearer San Francisco than is Honolulu 
and nearer the Panama Canal, so is destined to be a port of call 
for big passenger and freight steamers crossing the Pacific. 
The United States Government is spending $3,000,000 on a 
breakwater which will transform the open roadstead into a 
safe harbor. The sun came out between showers as we landed 
at Hilo and the air was warm and muggy. A fellow voyager 
told me that it rains every day in the year here and the rich 
vegetation made me credit the statement. The city is splendidly 
situated, with the two highest island mountains in the world 




A PART OF HALEAKALA CRATER, ISLAND OF MAUI. LARGEST EXTINCT 
VOLCANO IN THE WORLD. 



200 



OUR COLONIES 



as a background, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, rising 13,825 
and 13,675 feet above sea level. From their true bases at the 
bottom of the Pacific Ocean, these mountains are about 30,000 
feet high. Clearly, there is plenty of water at this point ! 

Mauna Loa is the king of volcanoes. It has disgorged 
more material during the past century than any volcano in 
existence. Its great flow of 1855, alone, would nearly build 
Vesuvius. Kilauea, the great active crater, which travelers 
visit, is on the southeastern slope of Mauna Loa, about 4,000 
feet above the sea. 

The only standard-gauge railroad in the islands carries one 
twenty-two miles from Hilo, within eight miles of the Volcano 
House, this distance being covered by motor omnibus. We 

decided to go all the way 
by automobile and, equipped 
with heavy coats for the 
rain and cold, started on 
the thirty-mile trip. 

Passing fields of cane, 
we came to uncleared forest 
where there are many lava 
casts, or tree molds. Years 
ago liquid lava piled up 
around the trunks of trees, 
hardening before the trunks 
were burned away. Now 
they stand as gigantic vases 
in which small trees and 
ferns are growing. We 
came to a sawmill where 
huge chia trees are cut into 
railroad ties to be shipped 
to the mainland. This 
wood grows very hard with 
age. I was greatly im- 
pressed with the giant tree 
ferns in the forest, some of 
them thirty feet high. 

LAVA TREE MOLDS, HAWAII. 



■ Utt 




^m> \g\** » ■ \thH 


»5 




-^ >m 




jtilv 1 '• 


mc ■ * '1-rfBE' ■ 


f£j8*t % 






• : - 


'1 '• .4 



^fe. vc-V 






THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



20 1 




LOOKING INTO THE CRATER OF KILAUEA VOLCANO. 



After the twenty-five mile post we passed the forest belt 
and came into the region of recent lava flows. A sharp turn 
in the road, a whiff of sulphur and we were at the Volcano 
House, three miles from the crater. 

Next morning we made a call on the mighty Kilauea. We 
did not carry ohelo berries with us, the Hawaiian custom, to 
throw into the burning lake as a sacrifice to Pele, the volcano 
goddess. From time immemorial the natives have feared Pele. 
She it is who orders the time and season of eruptions. The 
brittle floss spun from the molten lava by the wind is Pele's 
hair. Kapiolani, one of the noble women of old Hawaii, dared 
to defy this goddess. Becoming a convert to Christianity, she 
tried to break the superstition of her people by showing them 
that God was stronger than Pele. Making a pilgrimage of 
one hundred miles to the crater, she sat on its edge and ate 
the sacred ohelo berries, threw stones instead into the chasm, 
and said : 



202 



OUR COLONIES 



"Jehovah is my God. He kindles these fires. I fear not 
Pele. If I perish by her anger, then you may fear her ; but if 
I trust Jehovah and He preserves me, then you must fear and 
serve Him alone." Pele failed to "call her bluff," and the 
natives were greatly impressed, if not converted. 

The crater is three miles across and 700 feet deep. It has 
been the scene of terrific explosions in past ages, but has now 
dwindled to a small active crater sunk in the middle, like a huge 
pot. This is Halemaumau, "The House of Everlasting Fire," 
the Castle of Pele. This cavity is about 1,000 feet across, and 
in it is a lake of fire, a regular devil's caldron. The huge kettle 
of molten metal has boiled over many times. 

One of the most terrific eruptions on Mauna Loa occurred 
on July 4, 1899, a sort of Hawaiian celebration of the Glorious 
Fourth, their first opportunity after joining the Union. The 
lava flow came within a few miles of Flilo, the third time the 
town has been threatened. Recently a volcano and earthquake 

o b s e rvatory has 
been constructed at 
^^- KilaUea under the 

auspices of the 
Massachusetts In- 
stitute of Technol- 
ogy. The Govern- 




ment plans to make 
the territory which 
includes the volca- 
noes of Kilauea and 
Mauna Loa into a 
national park. Re- 




EXAMPLES OF LAVA FLOW 
AT KILAUEA. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



203 




TOURISTS SCORCHING POST CARDS IN THE HOT FISSURES OF 

kilauea's LAVA. 



turning to Hilo to embark for Maui, I visited a school where 
Hawaiian boys are given manual training — the Hilo Boarding 
School by name, interesting as being the very one on which 
General Armstrong modeled Hampton Institute in Virginia. 

Maui is the second island of the group. It boasts the 
largest sugar mill on earth, a valley which is called "the Other 
Yosemite" and a volcano, which, though dead, holds the world's 
record for size. The journey to the summit of Haleakala, or 
"House of the Sun," is by rail from the port of Kahului to a 
point twenty-two miles from the crater, then by carriage or 
automobile for seven miles, the remaining fifteen being accom- 
plished in the saddle. 



204 



OUR COLONIES 



Sunrise at Haleakala is worth a more difficult journey, a 
view unexcelled in grandeur, perhaps, the world over. We 
stood 10,000 feet above the sea, on the rim of a giant bowl, a 
dead volcano twenty miles in circumference. There are two 
gaps in the wall through which lava poured in prehistoric times. 
Through these portals, at dawn, multi-colored clouds drift sea- 
ward. On the brink of this vast abyss, we felt we were above 
the very world itself. It is no wonder that people of all races 
build temples on mountain heights. 




SILVER SWORD. THIS QUEER PLANT GROWS IN THE EXTINCT 
CRATER OF HALEAKALA, 10,000 FEET ABOVE THE SEA. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE LEPER COLONY. 

I^HE famous leper settlement on the Island of Molokai is 
labeled "Tabu!" In the old days, before the white man 
came to Hawaii, all the common people had to heed the many 
"Tabu" or "Forbidden" signs, and offenders were put to 
death. Today the isolated triangle of land, guarded by moun- 
tain wall and sea, which has given Molokai its melancholy 
celebrity, is the only forbidden spot on the islands. As I pre- 
viously remarked, visitors wishing to go there must obtain a 
special permit from the Government. 

Molokai is not, as generally supposed, given over entirely 
to lepers. Only a peninsula on the northern shore is set apart 
for the afflicted ones, victims of a disease that is as old as his- 
tory and so terrible that centuries ago it was customary to burn 
lepers alive. The leper settlement is almost inaccessible from 
the rest of the island, as on three sides is the ocean and on the 
fourth it is shut off by a precipice 2,000 feet in height. The 
5,000-acre tract is so well guarded that there can be no com- 
munication between it and the other inhabitants of Molokai, 
and there is no way by means of which the lepers can escape. 

Twenty-five years ago there were 1,200 lepers on the island. 
The number has decreased to 622. In Honolulu there is a 
receiving hospital where lepers are first taken for treatment. 
Of the total 728 cases under observation, 623 are Hawaiians, 
forty-three Portuguese, thirty-one Chinese, seven Japanese, 
five Germans, five Americans and fourteen from other nations. 

"Why don't you stamp it out ?" I asked a doctor. 

"We have recommended that a periodical examination be 
made of every person on the islands," he said, "but it has met 
with opposition because of the tax to cover expenses. There 

205 



206 



OUR COLONIES 



is no doubt but that the disease is slowly decreasing. Yes, it 
is a germ disease, and can be transmitted by the mosquito, some 
investigators claim. The mosquito is our greatest menace and 
we have played in luck to keep our two yellow fever cases 
from spreading." 

A Swiss scientist, Professor Raoul Pictet, who invented 
liquefied air, claims to have discovered a "cold cure" for lep- 
rosy. The intense cold of liquefied carbon dioxide, locally 
applied, destroys the microbes and the flesh regains its original 
health and color. This is being given a trial at Molokai, but it 
is too early to make any positive statement regarding it. 

At the recent International Medical Congress in London 
the head of the British Government's medical service in India 




THE LEPER SETTLEMENT ON MOLOKAI ISLAND. 



reported a number of instances in which leprosy had been 
cured, a new vaccine treatment having been successful. Exper- 
iments made on Molokai resulted in the eflorts of the British 
to check leprosy in India. In recent years science has made 
great progress in the treatment of the scourge and the accom- 
plishments of American medical men have been of great value. 
Why leprosy occurs in certain places and not in others is 
one of the mysteries of medicine. The disease is mentioned 
in the earliest chronicles of man, references to it having been 
found in the records of the ancient Egyptians. In the early 
centuries of the Christian era the affliction spread all over 



THE HA W All AN ISLANDS 207 

Europe and every city had its leper house. For no cause that 
any one could assign, it began to disappear early in the sixteenth 
century. Climate apparently has no influence on leprosy, for 
when it subsided throughout most of Europe it persisted in 
Norway, Iceland, Spain and the islands of the Mediterranean 
Sea. In Asia it is to be found from India to Siberia, and it 
exists in many parts of Africa. In the West Indies it has 
reached alarming proportions at times. It has been introduced 
into the United States innumerable times, but never got a foot- 
hold except in Louisiana, where there has been a small leper 
colony for many years. If the United States were a country 
for lepers, the importation of African slaves in the early days 
would have brought the disease. The Chinese have not estab- 
lished it in our country, though there are a few cases among 
these people on the Pacific Coast. 

Leprosy is not so contagious as is generally supposed; it 
is communicated from man to man, but seems to require 
extreme intimacy of association. There are several forms of the 
disease. When patients are sent to Kalaupapa, the leper set- 
tlement, they are permitted to marry lepers. There are thirty- 
three non-leprous children in the colony, isolated from the 
others. In special schools in Honolulu are sixty-one of these 
children, born of lepers on Molokai, who have escaped the 
disease. 

Kalaupapa, from the sea, is a pretty place. A guarded trail 
leads up the bluff behind it. The houses are comfortable, the 
hospitals are the best. Everything possible is done to make 
the poor wretches contented. They even have a motion-pic- 
ture theater. In fact, life is made so agreeable that frequently 
a member of the colony, pronounced cured and free to leave, 
asks to be permitted to remain. There are ninety-three officers 
and assistants caring for the patients, who do a little in the way 
of agriculture, but who are really supported by the Govern- 
ment. 

In the leper village there stands a cross, sheltered by the 
boughs of a tree and inclosed by a plain iron fence. This 
monument marks the grave of Joseph de Veuster, Father 



208 



OUR COLONIES 



Damien, who was one of the noblest characters the world ever 
produced. Impelled by his love of humanity, he gave the better 
part of his life to the outcast lepers, dying a martyr to his 
devotion. Father Damien went to the Hawaiian Islands as a 
missionary and shortly afterward at his own request he was 
sent to the settlement on Molokai. He found conditions 
wretched. The water supply was unfit, the food was bad, the 
unfortunates were ill-clothed and ill-housed. All this failed 
to dismay him, and it was not long until he had made remark- 
able improvements and had brightened the lives of the hope- 
less exiles. The world at that time knew nothing of what he 
was accomplishing with virtually no assistance. He built a 
church and even personally dug the graves of many of the 
parishioners whom he buried. Finally, when he realized that 
the day which he had not feared had come, that he had con- 
tracted the disease, Father Damien did not flinch. Instead he 
welcomed the misfortune as binding him more closely to his 
people; he was now able to say "We lepers" in his sermons. 
His simple, heroic life and death attracted wide attention, and 
the work he had done on Molokai, and the facts he had learned, 
proved of immense value in dealing with leprosy elsewhere. 
Other missionaries, of all faiths, have unselfishly devoted their 




THE BARKING SANDS/ ISLAND OF KAUAI. 



THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



209 




DEPARTING FROM HAWAII WREATHED IN LEIS. 



lives to ministering to the lepers, and the world can but recog- 
nize this as one of the noblest forms of heroism. 

Kauai is the most northerly of the Hawaiian Islands and 
the oldest. Its mountains towered skyward before its sisters 
were born. It is called "The Garden Isle" and is, perhaps, the 
most picturesque. It is the least touched by civilization, in 
spite of its wide, cultivated acres, and is an ideal spot for camp- 
ing parties and for sportsmen on the lookout for wary moun- 
tain goats. 

One of the pastimes that appeals to visitors on Kauai is 
sliding on the sands. The wind on the hills makes the sands 
"bark" and rustle like silk. To slide down them produces a 
sound like thunder. It is a startling and strange experience. 

The little island of Niihau, lying seventeen miles from 

Kauai, is a private estate, devoted largely to sheep raising. 
15 



210 OUR COLONIES 

Lanai and Kahoolawe complete the island group, eight in 
all. We saw Lanai advertised for sale while we were in Hono- 
lulu, so there is still a chance to become "King of an Ocean 
Isle." Kahoolawe, the baby isle, is so dry that it is blowing 
away. The rainfall there does not seem to be very evenly 
distributed. 

Very musical indeed is the Hawaiian tongue, even if it has 
only twelve letters in its alphabet. Many think it is sweeter 
than Italian. 

The heart word in the language is Aloha, used in greeting 
and in parting, the word which means love and friendship and 
remembrance and all that is best in life. Americans on the 
islands have adopted it, with the leis, or flower garlands, they 
give you when you leave, and as you stand by the rail of the 
steamer wreathed in blossoms, waving to your friends on the 
pier, you hear them call to you, over the waters : 

"Aloha! Aloha! Aloha-o-e I" The call is both a blessing 
and farewell. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

Number of islands 3,141, total area 120,000 square miles — 
Population, 1913, estimated, 8,831,000; 25,000 Americans 
and Europeans {including troops), 40,000 Chinese, balance 
mostly Malayan, with some tribes of Negritos — Dominant 
religion Roman Catholic, with many Mohammedans and 
125,000 Pagans — Chief resources rice, copra, hemp, sugar, 
corn, tobacco, timber, zvith some gold and iron — Total im- 
ports, 1013, $56,327,533, exports $53, 6 83,3 2 <5; imports from 
United States, $25,646,876; exports to the United States, 
$10,070,642 — Cultivated area, 1013, 5,717,598 acres, with 
crop value of $77,456,471 — Forest area, 40,000 square miles 
— Capital, Manila, population, 250,000 — United States 
troops in Islands, 12,000; native infantry, 5,000 — Governor, 
Francis Burton Harrison. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

SOME STRAY PACIFIC ISLES. 

HONOLULU, the Hawaiian capital, faded into the dis- 
tance as we stood watching on the steamer's deck. Then 
the Island of Oahu dropped out of sight. The long, wave- 
plowing course to the Far East had begun. I thought I had 
seen the last of the Hawaiian group when the captain, a jolly 
old salt — British born but a naturalized American — surprised 
me by remarking : 

"We'll pass Laysan Island in a couple of days. It's 700 
miles to the west and belongs to the Hawaiian archipelago. 
Then there's Lisianski Island. Ever heard of it? Well, it's in 
the reservation, too. Uncle Sam has been annexing stray 
islands in the Pacific for a number of years. They are all sizes, 
from mere coral reefs to real food producers. They'll all come 
in handy some of these days. An assortment of islands is a 
fine thing to carry in stock. We use one of the Midways and 
Guam now as cable stations." 

"What do they raise on Laysan?" I inquired. 

211 



212 



OUR COLONIES 



"Birds ! The island is covered with them. It's their resting 
place after weary ocean flights. It's two miles long and half a 
mile wide and the Laysan albatross go there by the hundreds 
of thousands at nesting time. They are queer birds and carry 
on just like human beings, with a grotesque dance. I call it 
the 'Albatross Waddle' and think it may become popular some 
day, as it's something like the 'Turkey Trot.' " 

It seems that four years ago a Honolulu man fitted out an 
expedition and sailed for Laysan Island with twenty-three 
Japanese employes. On learning of the expedition the United 
States Government dispatched the revenue cutter Thetis and 
arrested all of the men. They had butchered 300,000 birds, 
however, before the arrival of the cutter. The albatross is the 
largest of sea birds and gathers all its food from the surface 
of the water, seizing, with its big bill, fishes, smaller birds and 
the refuse thrown from ships. These birds have great power 
of flight and follow ships for days at a time. Superstitious 
sailors believe that the killing of an albatross is always followed 




ALBATROSS ON LAYSAN ISLAND. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



213 



by misfortune. The average albatross egg weighs one pound. 
Many thousands of the eggs are collected annually on Laysan 
by natives of nearby islands, who use and sell them as food. 
The eggs are also served as food on passing steamers, chiefly 
as a novelty. This recalled to my mind an experience while in 
Africa hunting big game, exploring and taking aerial photo- 
graphs. One morning our chief cook announced that we would 
have ostrich-egg omelet for breakfast. I had misgivings about 
the agreeableness of the prospective dish, thinking it would 
be strong, but it proved as delicate as an omelet made from 
fresh hens' eggs. 

About 1,300 miles northwest of the Hawaiian Islands are 
the Midways, two little isles, mere freckles on the face of the 
ocean, but important to America. Their name was derived 
from their location about midway between the United States 
and Japan, and on the larger of these islands is the most 
isolated cable station in the world. This is Sand Island, about 
one and a half miles long, three-quarters of a mile wide and 
only forty-three feet above sea level at the highest point. A 




COLLECTING ALBATROSS EGGS, LAYSAN ISLAND. 



214 



OUR COLONIES 




SEAL TURTLE AND ALBATROSS ON LAYSAN ISLAND. 



coral reef, twenty-five miles in circumference, protects the 
islands from the sea and a rift in the reef admits vessels of 
light draught into a deep and safe harbor. Away back in 1887 
The Wandering Minstrel was wrecked on the reef and the 
captain, with his wife and crew, lived on fish and sea gulls' eggs 
for fourteen months, when they were rescued. 

In 1903 the Commercial Pacific Cable Company established 
a station on the island and today twenty of its employes call 
this little sand heap "home." Every three months a supply ship 
arrives and you can just imagine what mail from the States 
means to these modern Robinson Crusoes. In 1906 there was 
great excitement in the colony, for a big Pacific mail steamer 
grounded on the reef while landing the manager of the cable 
company. It was six days before the ship was floated. Five 
hundred visitors all at once were a delight to the Midwayites, 
who were so hospitable that the passengers later sent them a 
loving cup in remembrance of the sojourn. 

The employes at the cable station live in comfortable, well- 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



215 



equipped buildings and indulge in tennis, golf, billiards, fishing 
and sea-bathing during leisure hours. They have cows, sheep 
and chickens and grow vegetables on soil brought over from 
Hawaii. Exiles from civilization, theirs is a great work, for 
here, in this remote post, under the Star Spangled Banner, they 
keep the people of the West in touch with those of the Far 
East. When you read in the morning that the Moros are acting 
up in the Philippines you know that the boys on Sand Island 
flashed the message along in the night. 

Guam, with an area of about 200 square miles, is the largest 
of a group of islands called the Ladrones, or Thieves, a title 
which the natives deeply resent. When Magellan was on his 
way from the tail end of South America to the Philippines in 
1 52 1 he stumbled on these islands. He did some trading with 
the little brown men and on a dark night lost one of his ship's 
boats. 

"Thieves !" cried the navigator in rage. Ell make you pay 
for this !" And he did. He branded them ladrones, or thieves, 
and the name has clung to them through the centuries. 

The natives claimed that they fed Magellan and his starving 
crew and did not steal the boat, but they got the worst of it 




THE RESTORER, 



OF THE COMMERCIAL PACIFIC CABLE 
COMPANY. 



216 OUR COLONIES 

from the start, for the Spaniards, besides "marking them for 
life," brought them rats, flies, mosquitoes, and a batch of 
strange diseases and made the place into a penal colony. 

Guam was a Spanish possession until June 30, 1898, when 
it was captured by Captain Glass of the United States cruiser 
Charleston. On his way to Manila with several troopships, he 
had been instructed to take Guam. He had been told that the 
island's seaport was protected by two forts and on its arrival 
the Charleston fired a number of shots to unmask the batteries. 
At last a small rowboat, flying the Spanish flag, put out from 
the shore and landed the commander of the forts on the cruiser. 
He begged pardon for not having returned their salute, as he 
was out of powder. We had not hit the fort. The poor fellow 
nearly lost his breath when Captain Glass informed him that 
the United States was at war with Spain, and that the Charles- 
ton would wreck the forts, if need be. As soon as he recovered 
from the shock he surrendered. At the close of the war the 
island was formally ceded to us and Spain held out the rest 
of the group. Being in need of ready money to clear away 
the wreckage, she sold the lesser Ladrones to Germany for 
$2,500,000. 

In taking over Guam we secured the only island of the 
group with a good harbor. When we counted noses in 1901 
we found there were 10,000 inhabitants. Ten years later there 
were 12,000. 

The title of Governor was well established, for from the 
time it was colonized by the Spaniards in 1668 until the 
beginning of our rule, exactly fifty-seven varieties of Spanish 
Governors had held sway on Guam. Since then we have sent 
over ten Governors, but all of one variety, all high-class naval 
officers who have done everything in their power to promote 
the health, wealth and prosperity of the people. The Govern- 
ment has put up liberally, for every year's naval appropriation 
carries quite a sum for the upkeep of Guam. 

Our chief object in taking the island was to secure a landing 
place for the trans-Pacific cable. The cable is still its excuse 
for living, for today four lines land at Sumay, not far from the 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



217 



capital : The American cable from San Francisco via Honolulu 
and the Midways ; the American cable from the Bonin Islands 
connecting with the Japanese cable to Yokohama ; the German 
cable from Java via the Caroline Islands and the American 
cable from China via the Philippines. 

Agana, the capital, has about 8,000 inhabitants. Our first 
Governor, by damming a mountain stream, provided the people 
with pure water, which worked wonders with the death rate. 




OLD PALACE OF THE SPANISH DAYS, GUAM. 

Lepers were isolated and a cure was found for gangosa, a 
terrible disease peculiar to Guam. Hookworm was driven out. 
We built hospitals, restored highways, started English schools, 
even installed electric lights. We are publishing a monthly 
magazine in English and the Guamanos have just seen their 
first automobile. Baseball is in full swing. 

Twice a month a transport arrives from San Francisco or 
Manila and there are great doings at Government House, the 
old palace of Spanish days. 

The main product of the island is, and ever will be, copra, 
the dried meat of the coconut. The yearly yield, about 600 



2l8 



OUR COLONIES 



tons, is bought by Japanese traders who ship it in their own 
schooners. 

There are few masters and few servants in Guam. Nearly 
every man has his own farm. Life on the island would be 
probably ideal if it were not for the frequent occurrence of 
hurricanes. 

The United States has a number of "stray" possessions in 
the Pacific which are not to be found in the average geography. 
Among them are the Marcus and Wake Islands, and lower 
down, to the south, are the Howland and Baker Islands — none 
of them large enough to be worth visiting. 

Farther south, in the Samoa group, are several islands, 
belonging to us, the only one of consequence being Tutuila. It 



fowm&^w^M 






?*N 







NATIVE WOMEN OF SAMOA. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



219 




AN ISLAND FAMILY. 



contains the port of Pago Pago, one of the best harbors of the 
Pacific Ocean, and is therefore exceedingly valuable as a coal- 
ing station. All the other Samoan islands that amount to 
anything were the property of Germany, until England, as a 
war measure, forcibly took them on August 29, 1914. Copra is 
the chief Samoan export. The islands are noted for their 
beauty and their picturesque people. 



w 



CHAPTER XX. 

DOCKING AT MANILA. 
E AMERICANS discovered the Philippines on a fair 
May Day in 1898, when Dewey sailed into Manila Bay. 
Before then we did not even know where our clotheslines came 
from. Now Manila, capital of our possessions in the Far East, 
which we no longer spell with two l's, occupies the center of 
the stage. 

If you are working for Uncle Sam, you came to the 
Philippines on a U. S. army transport for $1 a day from San 
Francisco via Honolulu and Guam. It takes you about twenty- 
eight days. If you are just an ordinary traveler, you come via 
Japan, the voyage, including port stops, averaging twenty-six 
days. Some steamers go via China, which means five to seven 
days longer. 

Sailing from Nagasaki in southern Japan on a Friday 
night, you enter Manila Bay on Tuesday morning, unless you 
are delayed by a typhoon. The typhoon season on the China 
Sea begins in June and lasts until October. September is the 
worst month. We got into the tail end of a typhoon on the 
voyage to Manila and, from the sample, we were not eager 
for the full exhibit. The wind howled about the ship as though 
all the lost demons were loose and the great craft pitched and 
creaked in alarming fashion. 

The first you see of the Philippines is the light on north- 
ernmost Luzon, and it is then a twenty-four hours' journey to 
Manila. 

The island of Luzon on which Manila is situated, is the 
largest of the Philippine group, Mindanao being second in size. 
There are over 3,000 islands in the archipelago and only about 
1,600 of them have been named. The main ones, going south 
from Luzon to Mindanao, are Mindoro, Masbate, Samar, 

220 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 221 

Panay, Negros, Cebu, Leyte, Palawan and Bohol. Between 
Mindanao and Borneo stretch the islands of the Sulu archi- 
pelago, included in the Philippines. 

The Philippine archipelago as a whole is about opposite the 
coast from Vera Cruz, Mexico, to the Panama- Colombian 
border in the New World; and it faces Indo-China and the 
Malay Peninsula in the Old World. The Philippines are only a 
few hundred miles from the Asiatic shore and are really a 
broken-off fringe of that continent. In area they are nearly 
twice the size of the New England States and larger than the 
British Isles. 

We hear of these Islands first through old Chinese records 
when Mongol junks sailed over here in the thirteenth century, 
about the time that Marco Polo visited China. Magellan, with 
the flag of Spain, came next in 1521, meeting death as the price 
of his discovery. Del Cano followed, also in the name of 
Spain, but only looked in and sailed away. The Islands were 
named for Philip II., and the Spaniards spell it with an "F" — 
Felipe, hence the Spanish word Filipinos. We Anglo-Saxons 
spell the country with a "P" — Philippines, and the people with 
an "F" — Filipinos, with our usual irregularity in such matters. 

Legaspi was the real conqueror of the Islands. He sailed 
over from New Spain (Mexico) in 1565 and it was a case of 
the sword and the cross as in Latin America, for with him 
came Urdaneta, the priest. On the island of Luzon they found 
the most civilized of the many Malay tribes occupying the 
archipelago. They were the Tagalogs, a trading people, who 
had developed quite an enlightened form of government, and 
these are the Filipinos who form the dominant class today. 
Spanish conquest spread over the Islands and these alone of all 
the people of the Far East, were Christianized. Today there 
are eight so-called Christian tribes numbering, in rough figures, 
7,000,000. About one-sixth of these are Tagalogs of southern 
Luzon. There are 360,000 pagans, known as the "Wild 
Tribes," and 275,000 Mohammedan Moros. 

These, then, are the Filipinos we first came to know in 
1? 



222 



OUR COLONIES 



1. A small class of educated people, speaking Spanish as 
well as their native dialects — a class known as the gente 
ilustrada, or "upper people." 

2. A larger number of gente bajo, or "lower people," 
Christians, but uneducated and still pure Malays. 

3. A great number of pagan savages and bloodthirsty 
Mohammedans. 

Nature has erected a fortress to guard the harbor of 
Manila. The Spaniards did not make the most of it — the 
island of Corregidor, which we have made as impregnable as 
the Rock of Gibraltar. It lies between the Boca Chica, or 
narrow mouth, which we entered, and the Boca Grande, or 
wide mouth, used by vessels going to or coming from the south. 
In front the bay opens in a great sweep. On the Boca Grande 
side is the province of Cavite, which Dewey skirted on his 
way up the bay to sink the Spanish squadron. Nearly all of 
Cavite was fought over again and again in the stormy days 
between 1898 and 1902. 

It is twenty-nine miles from Corregidor to Manila. We 




CORREGIDOR ISLAND, NOW BEING FORTIFIED TO PROTECT 
MANILA HARBOR. 



_^ 



"1 







PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF MANILA. 



224 OUR COLONIES 

neared the breakwater, protecting the inner harbor, too late to 
be received by the port doctor, so had to lie off the city all 
night. Its sparkling lights, festooning the shore, looked 
alluring, although some of the passengers were disappointed 
that the lights did not climb the hills as in Hong Kong, where 
the incandescents meet the stars. Manila was evidently a 
flat city. 

Next morning, after the American doctor, clad in khaki, 
had looked at our tongues, we steamed past the breakwater and 
straight up to one of five great docks. The ship drew thirty 
feet. This then was American work, a mighty work which 
impresses the newcomer. In 1906, the transport Logan was 
laid alongside one of these new piers, the first time a vessel of 
equal draught had tied up to a port in this part of the world. 
Manila Bay is now considered the best in the Orient, a haven 
from the severest typhoons. We have spent $5,000,000 on 
harbor improvements in this port alone, and it is worth it. 
Think of Uncle Sam owning the best port in the Orient ! 

A park-like expanse along the waterfront, a breathing space 
between city and sea, also pleases the visitor. This is all 
reclaimed land, a stretch one and one-fourth miles long and 
one-third of a mile wide, extending from the Malecon Drive 
to the bay. 

"What is that fine new building in the midst of the park?" 
I asked. 

"That is the New Manila Hotel," some one answered. "It 
is a year old and cost $450,000. Uncle Sam advanced two- 
thirds of the money and took a mortgage. A good many 
Government officials live there, and army folks." 

Manila is the only port in the entire Orient without a charge 
for tonnage, harbor or light dues, but you cannot get past the 
customs. They need the revenue. Many are under the impres- 
sion that articles made in Europe on which duty has been 
paid in the U. S. A. can be brought into the Philippines without 
payment of extra duty. But this is not the case. Philippine 
duty must also be paid. And again, in going the other way, 
duty paid on articles here — Japanese purchases, for instance — 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



225 



does not mean that you will escape duty payment when you 
enter the States. There are two separate sets of duties for the 
Philippines and the United States. They are two separate 
Governments. This point is hammered into you at the pier 
while eagle-eyed officials paw over your belongings, on the 
lookout for things bought in China and Japan. My belief is 
that we should make the port of Manila, or a portion of it, a 
free port, as the English have done successfully at Hong Kong 
and Singapore ; that is, make it a port free of custom duties 
for vessels wishing to load and unload merchandise in com- 
mercial exchange. We should unquestionably have such a 
free port of exchange in the Orient. Everywhere that free 
ports have been tried they have greatly stimulated trade and 
commerce. For a fuller explanation of this important sug- 
gestion I refer the reader to my chapters on the Panama Canal 
Zone. 

As you at last walk away from the dock you find a strange 
assortment of vehicles waiting to take you to the hotel. 

The calesa is the more aristocratic. It is a two-wheel gig 
with a folding top. The driver perches on a little seat above 
the strong Australian pony. This costs you one peso (fifty 
cents) an hour. 




VIEW FROM THE NEW MANILA HOTEL. MONUMENT TO JOSE RIZAL 
16 IN BACKGROUND. 



226 



OUR COLONIES 




JUST COME TO TOWN. 

The carromata is something like the calesa, except that it 
has a square, stationary top and often looks a bit run down at 
the heel. It costs twenty cents an hour and two people can 
ride for this amount. 




CARABAO CARTS IN MANILA. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



227 



If you arrive with the fear that the Americans have effaced 
all the local color, you are immediately reassured, for right 
alongside the calesas and carromatas are carts drawn by cara- 
bao, the oxen of the Orient, great clumsy water buffaloes which 
look, for all the world, like cousins of the hippopotamus. They 
waddle along at a snail-like pace and their drivers, squatting on 
the produce, are scantily clad, brown-skinned Malays, not a 
jot changed since Magellan crossed the ocean. In fact, I think 
the same type lived here in 300 B. C. 

The New Manila Hotel was the finest-looking hostelry I 
had seen in the tropical Orient. The rooms are big and airy 
and the dining-room overlooks the bay. There is also a splendid 
roof garden. The most distinctive features are the hardwood 
floors and shell windows, both typical of the Philippines and 
most artistic. The windows consist of hardwood frames, con- 
taining many small latticework squares into which thin, flat, 
translucent seashells have been fitted. These windows slide in 
grooves on the railings, shutting out rain and heat and temper- 
ing the glare of the tropics. It is estimated that 5,000,000 



!! i ^y '^m, 


'^mmmmmmm 




In ■! „..„„, 

m 1 . 1 HHf 


1 II 


5>j - 


soil 


« 


-• • 



HOUSES SHOWING THE SHELL WINDOWS, MANILA. 



228 



OUR COLONIES 




BURIAL VAULTS, PACO CEMETERY, MANILA. 

shells are used for this purpose in Manila alone each year 
The supply is diminishing. 

Before starting out to see the city, I took a bird's-eye view 
from the hotel roof. Westward sparkled the Bay of Manila, 
thirty ships afloat in its inner harbor and a great "Jap" liner 
tied up to one of the piers. Southward was the famous 
Luneta, the playground of Manilans, as popular now as during 
the Spanish regime ; society gathers here in the late afternoon 
to listen to the music of the constabulary band. Eastward 
stretched the city, built in part and beautified by Americans. 
But the Mecca of most travelers lies to the north in Old 
Manila, the romantic town of Spanish days, surrounded by 
hoary walls. 



CHAPTER XXL 

MANILA, THE LAYER CAKE. 

MANILA is a layer cake. The caramel-colored Malays 
form the bottom layer. The next filler is sixteenth- 
century Spanish. Then comes the blend of these, Spanish 
and Malay, with a strong dash of Chinese — the upper-class 
Filipino. The top layer, including the cream, is good old 
American. And this is what makes Manila so interesting to the 
traveler — the diversified scenes and customs of a city which is 
Oriental, European and Yankee, thirteenth, sixteenth and 
twentieth centuries combined. 

Let us start out in Tondo, the section included within the 
city limits which has changed least since Spanish ships sailed 
into Manila Bay just 343 years ago. Under the very same 
name, Tondo then formed an independent territory, as did its 
neighbor, "Maynila," across the Pasig River. Today, as then, 
it consists of a motley array of shacks, built of woven bamboo 




i_l_ :_.., 

STREET IN NIPA SHACK SECTION OF MANILA. 
229 



230 



OUR COLONIES 



and nip a palm on bamboo frames, the whole tied with vines, 
without a nail. Many of these "mansions" appear to be walk- 
ing along on stilts as they sway in the wind. The ground floor 
is occupied by the domestic animals. One family owns a 
carabao. Next door they have two goats and a pig. The 
people across the street have a fighting cock and a gray cat 
with the Filipino crook in its tail. A woman looks out of a 
window at the visitors and she is of the pure Malay type ; the 
mass of coarse hair flowing over her brown shoulders is her 
pride and glory, well combed daily and greased with coconut 
oil. 

We Americans have cleaned up Tondo. There are paved 
streets now, sewers and water drains. These people of poorest 
Manila look cleaner and seem more contented than those of the 
slums of the big cities in the States. 

Across the river in the Walled City we find very different 
scenes. This is Spanish Manila, still called Intramuros, 
''Within the Walls." Its narrow streets and overhanging 
balconies, fine old churches and attractive little plazas made me 
think of South America. Streets like Calle Real, Calle Arzo- 
bispo and Calle Palacio recall just such names and just such 



ifilB 1, -' : -'l 


i s ' ^«fe sp^i 


^fegr. 








''.-Ik.-.; ...^ 


' V- ^<> ». , i 




v» ^ 


•«, ' *< * 


: , 


wik 


• 






i w^* 



A BASTION OF THE OLD WALL SURROUNDING MANILA IN 
SPANISH DAYS. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



231 



medieval-looking thoroughfares in Venezuela and Peru. 
Massive stone walls, two and three-quarters miles in circum- 
ference, surround this city built by the Spaniards. Of the 
seven gates, five still stand, and, through these historic portals, 
traffic flows today. Until 1852 the gates were closed from 




CALLE REAL, A STREET IN THE WALLED CITY, MANILA. 



232 



OUR COLONIES 



eleven o'clock at night until four in the morning, while 
watchmen guarded the sleeping city. Through one of the gaps 
in the wall made by their cannon, British troops entered the 
town in 1762 to raid and despoil it. I have heard that many 
people expected just such terrible treatment in 1898 and were 
amazed at the attitude of the American soldiers. Formerly a 
moat surrounded the walls, but it was a regular pest hole and 
we have filled it in, replacing it by a wide strip of lawn which 
sets off the fine old battlements. We have been wise in pre- 
serving the walls. They are the most artistic touch in the city. 
In wide avenues and parks, many splendid public buildings 
and airy bungalows outside the walls you see the American 
imprint. Throughout the city, within the walls and in the 
outskirts, as well as in the newly built sections, we have cleaned 
and beautified, without spoiling the "local color." Honolulu 
has been Americanized into monotony, but Manila, with all its 
sanitation, is still picturesque. We can only hope that it may 

retain its beauty as it grows into 
the great commercial port of the 
Orient. 

The Pasig River divides the 
city into two parts. One side, 
between the river and the bay, is 
the Walled City and the New Ma- 
nila, being built on plans laid 
down by the late D. H. Burnham, 
famous as an architect of "Cities 
Beautiful." There are also sev- 
eral residential sections which 
were suburbs in the Spanish days. 
On the other side of the river are 
the retail business streets and the 
native and Chinese quarters, be- 
sides some fine residential dis- 
tricts. Several bridges span the 
Pasig, chief among them the his- 
toric old Bridge of Spain. 




TYPE OF WINDOW IN THE WALLED 
CITY, MANILA. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



233 



Except in the Walled City, a network of canals, called 
esteros, each bearing a name, cuts through the town. The 
esteros are highways for freight, the boats of various types 
taking the place of drays and trucks. The canals also serve 
as drains, the city's elevation being only three or four feet. 
They are kept as clean as possible, but the water is very muddy 



'^-^m:. 




CASCOS, HOUSE BOATS, ON THE PASIG RIVER. 



and the natives are apt, through long habit, to throw things into 
the estero "when the health officer isn't looking." 

The river life is very interesting to the newcomer. Fifteen 
thousand people live on the cascos and lorchas which ply the 
Pasig and its tributaries. People are born, live and die on these 
houseboats, feeling aliens on the land. To me the casco and 
the carabao are the most Malayan features of Manila. The 
carabao loves to wallow in the stream and the casco never 
deserts it. This long, narrow craft is covered with woven 
bamboo awnings. Stern and prow are ornamented in weird 
design. The living apartment is well aft, consisting of a slat 



234 



OUR COLONIES 




SHIPPING OF TODAY MIXED WITH NATIVE BOATS ON THE PASIG RIVER, 



platform, a fire pot and a rice kettle. On the river the owner 
of the casco sits cross-legged on top of the curved matting- 
like roof, while a launch tows him up stream. On the estero 
he takes off as much clothing as the law permits, and poles the 
ungainly craft along slowly, while his wife hangs over the 
railing washing clothes and his naked brown babies scramble 
along the bamboo platform like so many little monkeys. 
Heaven knows why they do not fall overboard ! 

Street life shows every layer of the "Manila Cake." On 
the Bridge of Spain I met an army van filled with United 
States soldiers in khaki ; an automobile with dainty American 
women, all in white; a victoria with a dark-eyed Mestiza 
(Spanish-Filipina) wearing a black lace mantilla; a calesa with 
Chinese-Filipinos in European clothes ; a wabbly carromata 
with a Tagalog girl, all "butterflied up" in a flimsy blouse of 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



235 



jusi cloth ; and a primitive carabao cart, laden with bags of rice 
topped by a barelegged Malay. 

The Tagalog women are not pretty, but many of the 
Mestizas are. Some of them wear the native costumes, while 
others affect the Parisian style of dress. The native costume 
is not especially attractive, but it is certainly unusual. It con- 
sists of a flowing cotton skirt; a transparent blouse with 
immense sleeves, showing the chemisette beneath ; and a 
starched neck-piece called the panuelo. The Mestiza wears 
shoes and stockings with this costume, but the Filipina is 
stockingless and wears "floppy" chinelas, slippers which cover 
only the toes. The Mestiza's life is that of the Spanish woman, 
and her greatest desire is to be considered pure Espahol. The 
Filipina isn't concerned about her pedigree. She is by far the 
freest woman of the Orient, unhampered by the caste of the 
Hindu, the little shoe of the Chinese, or the social conventions 
which hem in Japanese women. Her place in the household is 




MR. AND MRS. W. D. BOYCE AND MR. AND MRS. BEN BOYCE, BOATING ON 
THE PASIG RIVER, MANILA. 



236 



OUR COLONIES 



more like that of the American woman's, but she is not yet a 
slave to corsets, tight shoes or hairpins. 

It is difficult to find out much about the women of Spanish 
blood who still live in Manila. They stay at home very closely 
and do not boast about their ancestry, for fear their fathers, 
husbands, brothers or sons will lose their positions with the 
Government. They seem to think they do not belong in the 
new regime. 

The truth is, blood counts for very little out here in the Far 
East, where there are so many mixed strains. A man's char- 
acter stands for a good deal more than the color of his skin or 
who his grandfather was. Americans who come to live in the 
Orient grow very tolerant on these lines and adapt themselves 
to the life by living much as the better class natives do. 

People go to work early and take a siesta after the midday 
meal. Rule Number Two tacked on the door of my room at the 
New Manila Hotel prohibited loud talking, singing and piano 
playing from two to four in the afternoon. From five to seven 
in the evening is the calling hour, on the way to the Luneta to 
hear the music and watch the crowd. Every man has his per- 
sonal "boy" who looks out for his clothes and general comfort 




FILIPINO MUSICIANS. THE WOMEN ARE DRESSED IN THE NATIVE 
TAGALOG COSTUME. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 237 

and delivers his messages. This Filipino "boy" often has a 
wife and five or six children, but his wages are only 20 pesos 
($10) a month. His chief concern is to keep the master's 
shoes from mildewing. 

Everything mildews here in the rainy season, which lasts 
from July to October. No one stays in for the rain. They 
wear clothes that will wash and never go out without a mack- 
intosh. 

Canopied mosquito nettings, carpetless floors and sliding 
seashell shutters become commonplace affairs in Manila. 
You soon cease to stare at the little Filipino waiters with their 
shirts hanging outside their trousers. You grow accustomed 
to the pantalooned Chinese women, the nursemaids of the 
Orient, trundling fair American babies, and to the huge, tur- 
baned Hindus who serve as night watchmen in this part of the 
world. 

I was impressed with the fact that the best of the Filipinos 
have Chinese blood. Mongol junks have been crossing the 
China Sea for 700 years, according to history, and probably 
much longer than that. Chinese men have married Filipinas 
and the cross is the best native type, more intelligent than the 
Malay, stronger physically than the Chinese. Rizal, the great- 
est of the country's heroes, was of this blood. So is Aguinaldo. 
So are many of the foremost Filipinos today. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

OUR WORK IN MANILA. 

WE'VE done more in the Philippines in sixteen years than 
Spain did in three hundred. This is the unanimous 
opinion of the transplanted Americans who are at work over 
on our far-off islands. And the visitor, familiar with the con- 
dition of Manila before and after taking the prescription, 
assents, "Well, you certainly have !" 

Shortly before his death, President McKinley said, "We 
are to take to those distant people in the Philippines the 
principles of liberty, of freedom of conscience, and of oppor- 
tunity that are enjoyed by the people of the United States." 
This was a gigantic task. It meant the rebuilding of the entire 
structure on a new foundation. We went to work with a will 



■ B^W^HiiillBIl nil 




THE GOVERNOR S MANSION ON THE PASIG RIVER, MANILA. 

2 3 8 




MANILA PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 



2 4 o OUR COLONIES 

and have stuck to it through all these years, drawing heavily on 
our stock of pluck and patience. It is little wonder that the 
men who have played leading roles in this "Uplifting the Fili- 
pino" have pride in their work. It is only fairly launched, yet 
many real achievements are now ready for inspection. 

When we took charge of Manila, about three-fifths of all 
the children born died before they were a year old. And no 
wonder! There was hardly an attempt at sanitation and men 
of the poorer class earned so little that mothers of newly 
arrived babies were not properly nourished. Cholera had claimed 
over 100,000 victims in a single year. The great bulk of the 
natives in the city had intestinal trouble, due to parasites which 
sapped the vitality, the result of infected drinking water. We 
pitched in. 

First we spent $2,000,000 on sewers and enforced sanitary 
regulations. We invested $1,000,000 in a reliable water system. 
We paid living wages to working men. Today the rate of life 
insurance is the same as in the States. 

We improved the streets, laid out new avenues, turned 
swamps into parks. We built model hospitals, displaced fire- 
flies and kerosene lamps by electricity, modernized the fire 
department and ran trolley lines in every direction. Today 
Manila, the unsanitary, dreamy city of old, is transformed into 
a clean, healthful, up-to-date capital. It is the head and heart 
of a nation we hope to "Manila-ize" throughout. 

In the old days there was no such thing as free speech or a 
free press. Men who talked about liberty, or wrote about 
liberty, were executed. If a man complained about govern- 
mental corruption, he went to jail. Now, unless he incites riot 
or rebellion, a man may say anything he pleases. He may 
criticise the rule of the Americanos or talk about Philippine 
independence by the hour. 

We replaced fluctuating money with staple currency on the 
gold standard. The small size of the Philippine paper bills has 
proved so satisfactory that Uncle Sam has adopted it for the 
States. The dollar of the Philippines is the peso, worth just 
50 cents of our money. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



241 



r „. 



The postal service was a joke. Now it reaches nearly every 
town and village and there is even a rural delivery. The 
parcel post system here is excellent. Packages may be 
sent C. O. D. and, if the merchant's consent is attached, the 
contents can be looked over before the money is paid. The 
postal officials collect the money and return it to the sender. 
The postal savings bank was in operation here before we had it 
over on our side. The telegraph, cable, telephone and wireless 
systems are marvels, a network of communication to the far 
corners. 

The coast line of the Philippines is greater than that of the 
United States (not including Alaska) and about nine-tenths of 
the people live within sight of the sea. We have charted more 
than half the coast line, installed 150 lights and encouraged the 
operation of many steamer lines. 

Before the Stars and Stripes went up, the Filipinos had 
absolutely no part in the Government. The Spaniards were 




17 THE FILIPINO ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, MANILA. 



242 



OUR COLONIES 



the masters. Now the voting Filipinos have almost complete 
authority in municipal affairs and a large share in legislative, 
judicial and executive branches. 

The Legislature has two chambers, consisting of the Com- 
mission and the Assembly. The Commission, or "upper 
house," is composed of four Americans and five Filipinos 
appointed by the President of the United States, giving the 
Islanders a majority of the Governing Commission and entire 
control of the Assembly. The President of the Commission is 
the Governor-General of the Philippines. The Assembly is 
composed of eighty-one Filipinos, selected by the vote of the 
people. To vote a man must fulfill one of the following 
requirements : Read and write English or Spanish ; own 
property; pay taxes. Only three per cent of the entire popu- 
lation vote ! 

Two delegates are sent to Washington to look after Filipino 




THE FIRST FILIPINO ASSEMBLY. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 243 

interests. They have a voice in the House of Representatives, 
but no vote. The Commission selects one of these delegates, 
the Assembly the other. The Commission chose a man not in 
favor of immediate independence, but its last selection had a 
"change of heart" on reaching Washington. In the Assembly 
the "Immediate Independence Party" is in the saddle, so its 
delegate is a worker in that cause. 

The police judges are all Filipinos. So are half of the 
twenty-four "judges of the first instance." In the Supreme 
Court there are three Filipinos and four Americans. It is 
plain therefore that we have not kept the Filipinos out of the 
pilot house. In all branches of Government service, Filipinos 
are given positions as fast as they prove themselves capable. 
In the Government printing office over 94 per cent of the 
employes are natives. There are over 40,000 employes of the 
Philippine Government and only about 300 of them are 
Americans. 

Education is the keynote of the whole situation. We found 
90 per cent of the people in absolute ignorance. Eighteen days 
after we captured Manila we had seven schools in operation, 
and ever since we have kept education in the foreground. 
"The schoolma'am follows the flag," and in 1901 we brought 
over 1,000 teachers, scattering them from the island of Batan, 
which lies between Luzon and Formosa, to Siasi, away down 
in the Sulu archipelago, a stretch of over 1,000 miles. 

Today there are 9,000 teachers in the Islands, but less than 
700 are Americans. This is a great pity, but the insular 
Government has a limited revenue and native teachers, while 
much less efficient, will work for $10 a month. There are 
4,600 schools and 700,000 pupils. Only about one-third of the 
children have the chance to go to school. Uncle Sam should 
put up the money for more schoolhouses and many more Amer- 
ican teachers. The Philippines are now self-supporting. We 
pay for keeping up an army here ; the men would have to be 
kept somewhere and colonial training means everything for 
them, as our soldiers must know how to live and fight in the 
tropics. The school work is a big subject, a story in itself; so 



244 



OUR COLONIES 



is the army ; and the constabulary, the greatest institution in the 
Islands; and the really wonderful prison system. 

This is a very short and inadequate account of our prog- 
ress in reforming and civilizing the Islands, but, for the most 
part, the work was achieved prior to the entry of the present 
administration. With the appointment, August 22, 1913, of 
Hon. Francis Burton Harrison to the Governorship of the 
Islands, the Government's work has slowed down. To those 
who have the retention of the Philippines and their develop- 
ment at heart, the appointment of Mr. Harrison, and the 
removal of numerous experienced and efficient members of the 
Philippine service, was a great disappointment. Unquestion- 
ably the result has been to the detriment of our own just claims 
and anything but beneficial to the people of the Islands. Mr. 
Harrison hails from New York, is a lawyer by profession and, 
up to the time of his appointment to the Governorship of the 
Philippines, had served as Democratic Congressman from New 
York through four terms. Thus far his conduct of the affairs 
of the Islands has occasioned much criticism, though no doubt 
he represents the policy of the present Washington adminis- 



LIJ 


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9 

■. 



FRANCIS BURTON HARRISON, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE 
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, AND HIS WIFE. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



>45 




A NATIVE WARD POLITICIAN OF 
MANILA. 



tration. The mistake inheres in the 
policy itself, which consists of hurt- 
ful economy, the displacement of 
experienced officials by inexperi- 
enced men, the placing of a major- 
ity power in the hands of the na- 
tives, and the weakening of our 
civilizing influence in the Islands by 
holding out to their people the 
promise of entire independence in 
the near future. However, I will 
speak more fully relative to this 
important matter in a later chapter. 

One of the finest buildings in 
Manila is that of the Bureau of 
Science, an institution of wide 

scope. Science and the Philippines have not been acquaint- 
ances very long, but there was one scientific man here on our 
arrival who has remained in our service. He is at the head 
of the weather bureau, and we cannot find his equal. Fifty 
years ago learned Jesuit priests established a weather bureau 
in Manila, and Father Faura began the study of the typhoon. 
This most terrible of all sea storms is native to the China Sea 
which borders the Philippines on the west. Father Algue, 
who continued the work, has kept on under our administration 
and is one of the great scientists of the world. From his sta- 
tion comes accurate information as to the location, progress 
and duration of the typhoon, and word is telegraphed to 
mariners in every part of the Islands and flashed by wireless 
to ships far out at sea. Even in China and Japan they depend 
on word from Manila. 

Even the newsboys in Manila know the meaning of the 
storm signals displayed on the tall mast at the weather bureau. 
The day signals are composed of various combinations of black 
blocks and cones, and at night red and white lanterns carry the 
message. The moment signal No. 1 is run up, there is a stir 
in shipping circles. It means "Distant storm, direction 



246 



OUR COLONIES 



unknown" and is enough to delay the departure of the little 
vessels which flit from island to island. Signals 2 and 3 indi- 
cate the direction of the storm, whether from the north or the 
south. Signal 4 is the real "Take notice." It means "Location 
of typhoon center is dangerous to this place. Look out for 
the next signal." Then there is scurrying. Extra hawsers 
bind steamers to the docks ; vessels within the breakwater drop 
an extra anchor ; the fishing fleet runs to cover. Crowds gather 
to see which of the three next signals will appear. Number 5 




ESCOLTA STREET, THE BROADWAY OF MANILA. 



means : "Center of typhoon will pass close to north." 
Number 6 : "Close to the south." Number 7 is the fatal 
signal : "Center of typhoon will pass over this city." 

Manila has had only one "center" in the past ten years. 
Then the wind reached a velocity of 135 miles an hour and 
wrought great destruction to native houses. Some months 
before our visit a typhoon had "centered" 200 miles north of 
Manila and yet the wind, at this outer edge, brought down 
roofs and trees, and vessels came limping into port for days. 

Over fifty scientists are engaged in studying an assorted 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



247 



lot of problems here, a great part of the "White Man's Burden." 
Tropical diseases have received special attention. Beriberi, 
that scourge of hot moist lands, has been unmasked and is on 
the way to being eliminated. Surra, a disease which attacks 
horses, a blood parasite spread by the fly, is receiving attention 
just now. It is still fatal, but the doctors think they will find a 
cure. All sorts of serums are made at the bureau and distrib- 
uted through the country. In the tests many monkeys are 
required. They are numerous in Luzon and easily caught by 
the natives who cut a small hole in a coconut, fill the nut with 
rice, and tie it to a forest tree. Along comes Mister Monkey, 
reaches into the coconut and grabs a big handful of rice. He 
cannot withdraw his hand unless he lets go the rice, and this 
he will never do, so he is doomed through greed; for just then 
a native comes along and nabs him. 

At the bureau, I saw a large land crab, two feet long, which 




^ Ih'&i 


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£ f 


1' 



A TRADE-TEACHING SCHOOL, MANILA. 



248 



OUR COLONIES 




CATCHING FISH NEAR MANILA. 



makes a business of climbing coconut trees and stealing nuts. 
Owners of coconut groves keep a sharp lookout for them. 

The Bureau of Science people will back their collection of 
multi-colored fishes against any in the world, Hawaii's included. 
A portion of the old Spanish wall has been remodeled for an 
aquarium, a bastion of the Royal Gate, which is ideal for the 
purpose. A small fee is charged to view the real wonders of 
the deep. 

Near the Bureau of Science is the Philippine Normal 
School, which makes English teachers of Filipinos ; the School 
of Arts and Trades ; the College of Medicine and Surgery of 
the University of the Philippines ; and the General Hospital, 
best equipped of all such institutions in the Orient. And I 
have given you only a brief outline of our work in Manila ! 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

AMERICAN LIFE IN MANILA. 

IT IS sixteen years since Uncle Sam acquired the Philippine 
Islands, by one of those accidents that sometimes happen 
even in the best regulated nations. The visitor's expression 
today is that we might have fared worse, but could hardly have 
gone farther. 

Manila is more distant from the United States than almost 
any port for which the American globe-trotter sets sail. He 
is met by a flutter of Stars and Stripes, hundreds of flags 
waving over Government buildings, schools and hospitals. The 
soda fountain is in evidence. Perhaps you have heard of the 




WORKS OF THE PHILIPPINE VEGETABLE OIL COMPANY, MANILA. 

249 



250 



OUR COLONIES 



American, just in from China, who rushed into a drug store on 
Calle Escolta, Manila, the moment his ship had docked, and 
gobbled five chocolate ice-cream sodas without stopping. The 
policeman you see on a street corner is probably an Irish- 
American. The three newspapers in English have "live" 
headlines over the latest cable news from the States. 

"What do you think of our new hotel ?" every other Amer- 
ican asks you. They came to town, even from the jungles, 
when J. M. Dickinson, then Secretary of War, laid its corner- 
stone, and many consider it the crowning American achieve- 
ment. 

It certainly is a magnificent-looking building, none finer 
in this part of the world, and fills a long-felt want for those 
who like to drop in for afternoon tea on their way to the 
Luneta, or attend the weekly dances. For the tourist, however, 
forced to rely on the hotel menu, for instance, it is quite another 
story. Here in the East everything on the bill of fare is given 




A PORTION OF THE MANILA GAS COMPANY'S PLANT. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



251 




ST. AUGUSTINE CHURCH, MANILA, THE OLDEST CHURCH 
UNDER THE AMERICAN FLAG, BUILT 1 599. 

a number and there is a formidable array of them from i to 40. 
You name the numbers of the things you want and the waiter 
gets the order straight. But when the food is sampled, you 
realize you are a long way from bread and pie "like mother 
used to make." There isn't much excuse for this. The 
market is full of good things to eat. It is poor cooking and 
poor service. 

The situation of Manila's new hotel, on reclaimed land by 
the sea, is ideal, so perhaps one pays for the sea breeze and the 
view. The Luneta is to be moved over next to the hotel and 
again have its old position as a seaside drive. In time many 
fine buildings will occupy this portion of the waterfront, 
between the Walled City and the bay. 

There are about 250,000 people in Manila and probably 
5,000 of them are Americans. Five years before the Spanish- 
American War, there were two, a lone duo of business men. 
The English colony was as influential then as it is today and its 



THE ARMY S NAVY CLUB 




"•" i V 




- 



HOMES OF SOME MANILA CLUBS. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 253 

club the center of foreign social life. This club, the Manila, is 
still one of the important ones of the city, having, besides its 
spacious building in a residential district, an annex in the busi- 
ness section. It is the fashion in the Orient to transact business 
at the luncheon hour, "tiffin,"' as it is called. The staff of club 
servants moves down town for the noon hour, returning to the 
main clubhouse in the afternoon to greet the arrivals for 
before-dinner cocktails. 

The club means much in the East. It is the place where the 
Anglo-Saxons gather, apart from the Asiatics among whom 
they work. The Americans formed the club habit as soon as 
they reached Manila. The Army and Navy Club was organized 
first, followed by the University and the Elks. Anglo-Saxons 
have no monopoly in this line, however. There are German 
and Spanish clubs as well as Filipino and Chinese. 

The Spanish Club, Casino Espanol, was recently the center 
of a celebration in honor of Santiago, patron saint of Spain. 
A special dispensation was secured from the authorities for a 
bull fight, with the understanding that the bulls were not to be 
killed, just distracted a bit. Flaring placards announced the 
coming event. A wax figure of a matador with the stuffed 
head of a bull appeared in a show window on the main business 
street and admiring small boys fairly blocked traffic. The 
Filipinos forgot all about the Americanos and were all for the 
land of El Toro. Then came a cable from one of the south- 
ern islands stating that they had been unable to corral the bulls 
in time to catch the steamer. So the bull fight was postponed. 

There is one club in Manila which deserves special mention 
— the Columbia — where young Americans find their recreation 
and social life. There is no cocktail hour at the Columbia, for 
it is a strictly temperance institution, but there is a fine club- 
house, with a gymnasium and a swimming pool. The club 
habit in the Orient undoubtedly encourages drinking. A 
popular postcard out here carries a sketch entitled, "The Call 
of the East." It depicts a tall, thin club man reclining at full 
length in a big bamboo chair, calling "Boy!" to a Chinese 
waiter, pigtail flying, who is rushing a bottle of "Scotch" to 



254 OUR COLONIES 

those in need. The combination of good fellowship, exile from 
home and the "chit" system has been the undoing of many a 
young man in the Far East. 

The "chit" system is the curse of this part of the world. 
In the early days, bulky Mexican dollars, brought over on the 
galleons from Acapulco, were the leading currency. As they 
were too heavy to lug around in the pockets of thin white 
clothes, people never paid cash for anything, but signed an 
"L O. U." or "chit" for the amount of the bill. At the end of 
the month all the "chits" were sent around for collection. 
This system is still popular and a man wonders how he ever 
came to sign so many "chits." Sometimes the method of pay- 
ment is about the same as in the light opera, "The Yankee 
Consul," where the comedian remarks, every time he signs a 
"chit," "Thank Heaven, that's paid." 

It was to guard against the evils of club life that Bishop 
Brent, of the Episcopal Church, founded the Columbia Club. 
The Bishop has spent twelve years in the Philippines and had 
just been on a visit to the States. Last year Harvard College 
conferred an honorary degree upon him for his valuable work 
in these Islands. 

A man who lived in Manila prior to 1898 says that all the 
foreigners used to dress for $2.50. White suits cost more 
nowadays, but every one wears them in the lowlands at all sea- 
sons of the year. The costume worn by the men at dinner 
looks ridiculous at first to the "pilgrim." It consists of black 
trousers and a very short white jacket, a low-cut white vest 
and a black tie. It corresponds to the American dinner coat 
or Tuxedo. The regulation evening attire, or "full dress," of 
the Orient is white throughout. 

Americanization has made many radical changes in the 
everyday life of the Filipinos, but it has not been able to divert 
traffic to the right, as in the States. Here it is "Keep to the 
Left" with all methods of locomotion, the European custom 
installed by the Spaniards. This has bothered many newly 
arrived Americans who essayed to drive automobiles, a col- 
lision often being the result of "having learned in the U. S. A." 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



^55 




FORT SANTIAGO, UNITED STATES ARMY HEADQUARTERS. 



There are 1,700 autos in the Islands, practically all of American 
brand. 

"What have you in the way of sport?" I asked a New 
Yorker who had just finished his third year in Manila. 

"Quite a fine line for the tropics," he said. "There are lawn 
tennis and polo. Then we have boating on the Pasig River and 
fishing down the coast. Baseball, of course, from November 
until May. We have a professional league with teams from 
the Army, Marines, all-Filipino, and one financed by the 
merchants of Manila. There is also an amateur league com- 
posed of teams from the various Government departments. 
Races? Yes, we have them on the first Sunday of each 
month, rattling good sport. The native ponies are speedy. 
One of the cavalry regiments thought it had a mount that could 
beat anything raised on the Islands, but this was a mistake. In 
a match with a little native nag owned by an alcalde in the 
South, it was a case of 'Here's to the Native Born,' and the 



256 



OUR COLONIES 



cava 



lry boys exchanged their coin for a chunk of respect for 

Filipino pony." . 

Uncle Sam has prohibited gambling within the city limits 




K 



~ 



'«L ~» .«i 



GATE TO FORT SANTIAGO, MANILA. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 257 

and the cock fights are held just out of town. If they were 
abolished altogether, it would mean a real revolution. Amer- 
icans attend about one "to see what they're like." 

For amusements, outside of a delightful social life, the 
Americans in Manila have motion-picture shows galore and a 
light opera company from England twice a year. This Band- 
mann Opera Company, which appears in India, Ceylon, the 
Straits Settlements, China, and Japan en route to the Philip- 
pines has quite a repertoire. Last season, in July and August, 
it included "The Pink Lady," "Gypsy Love," "The Count of 
Luxembourg," "The Geisha" and "The Sunshine Girl." 

At home we picture Manila as an outpost and pack about 
everything we think we'll need. The fact is you can find 
almost anything you ask for in the shops on Calle Escolta, for 
American goods have followed the flag. There are Indian and 
Chinese shops where foreign articles are sold and, on Calle 
Fernando, Filipinos sit in tiny tiendas, mere holes in the wall, 
surrounded by native wares, mostly cloth of country weave. 

In the books I have read on the Philippines very few writers 
have told the difference between pina, jusi, and sinamay. Pina 
is made from pineapple fiber ; jusi is pineapple mixed with silk ; 
sinamay is woven from abaca, the cousin of the banana plant, 
which produces the Manila hemp of commerce. Besides these 
three fabrics, the Filipinos weave cotton cloth. Tourists buy 
pina and jusi. Sinamay is coarse and only the poorer class 
wear it. The pina centerpieces, elaborately embroidered, are 
very beautiful and, being altogether of Philippine manufacture, 
can be taken into the United States free of duty. 



18 



I 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

AROUND THE GREAT LAKE. 

N LEAVING Manila for our trip around the great lake, 
Laguna de Bay, which is connected with the Bay of 
Manila by the Pasig River, we had a choice of two routes — by 
river steamer up the Pasig, or the railroad. We decided to 
go by rail and return by river. 

Boarding a train at a station on the outskirts of the city, 
we were at once in a country which looked very primitive. 
Uncultivated meadows, covered with tall cogon grass, skirted 
the track. Now and then we passed nipa shacks, and rice 
fields, deep in water. Many carabaos wallowed in muddy 
pools, a few at work in the paddy fields, their masters often 
mounted on their broad, ugly backs. I wondered why so much 
land was uncultivated and asked an army officer who sat across 
the compartment. He said it belonged to the Friar Lands, 
purchased by the Government and now on sale on the install- 
ment plan. 

The Friar Lands have been one of our greatest problems 
in the Islands. Under Spanish rule, different orders of Cath- 
olic friars owned immense properties, over 100,000 acres of 
the best land in the country. In the turbulent years of 1896- 
1898, the people grew very bitter against the friars and many 
of them were killed. As soon as we took over the Islands, our 
trouble with the Friar Lands began. Many of the priests were 
afraid to return to their parishes and the tenants, occupying 
church lands, refused to pay rent. The different orders — ■ 
Dominican, Augustinian and Franciscan — appealed to the Gov- 
ernment. To make a long story short, we finally purchased 
these lands for $7,000,000. But now the trouble really began ! 

When the insular Government tried to market its valuable 

258 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



259 



property, it was attacked by those who declared that these were 
public lands and could not be sold to a corporation, or, in large 
tracts, to an individual. There are no small tenants to whom 
this enormous tract can be sold and no big company wants less 
than 10,000 acres for sugar cane. Filipino politicians say that, 
if great American interests are allowed to come in, their Inde- 
pendence Day will never come. People taking the other side 
believe the Government should be allowed to sell the lands to 
those who will develop them. Others think that, if the "powers 
that be" in Washington will not permit the insular Government 
to dispose of the property in the only way it is salable, the 
United States of America should pay the interest on the 
$7,000,000, for which the Filipinos now are taxed. 

At Alabang we passed a Government agricultural station 
where they are carrying on a crusade against rinderpest, the 
disease which killed off most of the carabaos some seasons ago. 
At that time the United States Government gave $3,000,000 to 
the Islands for the purchase of carabaos from Asia. The 
Philippine Government is now making a study of the disease 
to ward off future ravages. 

The carabao, or water buffalo, is absolutely essential in the 
boggy rice fields, as the Filipinos will not do the manual work 
performed by the Japanese. The animals are very slow and 




A CARABAO ENJOYING HIMSELF. 



260 



OUR COLONIES 



clumsy and seem more like hippopotamuses than buffaloes. 
They cannot live without daily mud and water baths and in the 
hot, dry season become very fierce and unruly. Then the 
natives say they have gone "loco" (mad or crazy). There are 
several different varieties in the Philippines, some with long 
horns but slightly curved ; others with long horns curved back, 
and a smaller kind with shorter horns, curved back, which I am 
told are of native stock. At Calamba we changed cars for Los 
Banos and I had a look at the village where Jose Rizal, the 




A LONG-HORNED CARABAO. 



great Filipino patriot, was born. Jose's father was a Chinese- 
Filipino of some means and the boy was well educated, going 
from the Jesuit School in Manila to the Madrid University in 
Spain. Later he studied in France and Germany and mastered 
a number of languages. Although a Catholic, Rizal was not 
in sympathy with the attitude of the Spanish Church in Gov- 
ernment matters and, hoping to awaken his fellow-countrymen 
to the true conditions, he wrote a novel, while in Germany, 
called "Touch Me Not." The book told the misery of the 
Filipinos and attacked the religious orders. After publishing 
a second book on the same lines, Dr. Rizal, who had become a 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



261 



well-known oculist, went to Hong Kong to practice his pro- 
fession. Summoned to Manila, he was tried and exiled to the 
Island of Mindanao. Three years later he was allowed to 
start for Cuba to serve as an army surgeon, but was recalled, 
on reaching Port Said, brought to Manila and tried by court- 
martial on vague charges. On the morning of December 30, 
1896, he was shot. 

Rizal's martyrdom hastened the Philippine revolt against 
the Spaniards. Today he is best beloved of all his country's 
heroes, and December 30th is a public holiday, "Rizal Day." 
His statue, the work of a Swiss sculptor, stands on the Luneta 
in Manila. I learned that an enduring monument is to be 
erected to him in the town of his birth, a fine public school 
called "The Rizal School." This valiant son of Calamba did 
not die in vain. 

We left the train at Los Banos, two and one-half hours 
from Manila on the southern shore of the great lake, Laguna 
de Bay, twenty-five by thirty miles, a shallow sheet of fresh 
water. 

There is a comfortable little hotel at Los Banos and the 
place is celebrated for its hot springs, discovered by a Francisan 
priest in 167 1. Ever since then there has been a hospital here 
— Franciscan, Spanish, and now a United States army hospital 
occupying the fine old Spanish building. On the hills, just 
back of the town, is Camp Eldridge, a small military post. Two 
miles away is the College of Agriculture of the University of 




LOS BANOS, WITH CAMP ELDRIDGE ON THE HILLS. 



262 



OUR COLONIES 



the Philippines, a most important branch of our work in the 
Islands, as the very best we can do for the Filipino is to teach 
him to be a good farmer. 

From the Spaniards the Filipinos got the idea that manual 
labor is degrading and that farming belongs to the taos, the 
peon class. We are trying to change this deplorable state of 
affairs. The Philippines are primarily agricultural lands and 
intelligent farmers are needed as well as students on other lines. 
I had read about the great variety of fruits in the Philippines 
and expected to find a fine assortment out here in the country. 
At the hotel in Los Banos we had canned pineapples from 
Hawaii for breakfast ! 

"What on earth's the matter?" I asked the man at the next 
table. "Haven't you any native fruit in this country?" "Oh! 
it's between seasons," he said. "Mangoes about gone; nothing 
else due ; weather bad, so they don't bring bananas into town. 
Then we have had bad luck down here with fruit. As soon as 




MR. BOYCE EXAMINING PHTLirPTNE CORN. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



263 



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ROAD BUILDTNG IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



a new kind is introduced, some insect pest comes along and 
puts it out of business. The scientific fellows take a squint at 
it and report a new brand, 'first time in captivity.' Discourag- 
ing work ! You can't get these rice-eating people to raise much 
else. We've been all this time convincing 'em that corn is fit 
to eat. They said at first it was hog and chicken food !" 

Los Banos has one main street with a number of frame 
buildings, besides the regulation nipa houses. There is an 
"American Store," well patronized by the soldiers. The street 
is really a part of the main highway, connecting Manila with 
Antimonan, a town on the Pacific Ocean side of the Island of 
Luzon, and a splendid road throughout. 

The wonderful road system in the Islands came to be after 
many attempts and failures. Government money, appropriated 
to the provinces, was misspent and the roads were never 
repaired. Finally the Commission decided on a brand new 
measure. Each province was authorized to double its poll tax 
and spend the additional half on roads and bridges. Then 10 
per cent of all the internal revenue of the Islands was voted to 



264 



OUR COLONIES 




OLD STYLE PLOWS, ISLAND OF LUZON. 

be spent in such provinces as had doubled the poll tax. The 
Government went so far as to put up $850,000 on the side to be 
spent in the provinces which came in at once. Added to the 
internal revenue, this made $2,000,000. The native officials, 




ON THE WAY UP THE PAGSANJAN GORGE. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



265 



signing the agreement, promised to pay $175 a year on each 
kilometer of road, to maintain repairs and pay salaries to 
camineros or road men. Each caminero keeps a kilometer 
(two-thirds of a mile) of road in repair. In this part of the 
country he wears a black shirt, "Turkey red" cotton trousers, 
long and baggy, and big straw hat with a brass tag. A red flag 
stuck up by the side of the road indicates that he is not far off. 
He works nine hours a day and gets 20 pesos ($10) a month. 
To make it a regular sporting proposition, the Commission 
awards cash prizes annually as follows : Province with best 




UPPER FALLS IN PAGSANJAN GORGE. 



266 OUR COLONIES 

sustained character of road, $7,500; province with greatest 
new mileage of good road, $5,000; province transferring great- 
est per cent of funds for roads, $2,500. 

From Los Banos we went by rail along the southern shore 
of the lake to the village of Pagsanjan to see the Pagsanjan 
gorge and falls, famous throughout the Philippines. This is 
the greatest "show trip" for excursionists from Manila. We 
telegraphed ahead for bancas, or native dugouts, and the 
banqueros, or canoe men, met us at the station. The round 
trip to the falls takes about four hours. Each passenger has 
two banqueros. My boys spoke English and sang and whistled 
as they paddled merrily along. They knew quite a number of 
American tunes and it amused me to hear these brown-skinned 
Malays, in impromptu bathing suits, singing "Good Night, 
Ladies !" Evidently army folks and other Americans patronize 
Pagsanjan. 

The trip is one of marvelous beauty. At the village the 
stream is wide, its shores lined with giant bamboo in great 
emerald plumes. As we went on the river narrowed and cliffs, 
hung in verdure, towered on either side. Kingfishers of bril- 
liant plumage seemed the only tenants of the shadowy gorge. 
The lower fall is 100 feet, the upper fall only 60 feet, but of 
greater volume. 

The great sport is shooting the rapids on the way back. 
Canoes are very often upset. A man told me he had seen 
twelve people in the water at once. We came through without 
mishap, but the canoes shipped so much water we were as wet 
as though we had gone overboard. 



"H 



CHAPTER XXV. 

DOWN IN BATANGAS. 
OW did you save your life?" The new arrivals had 
captured Charles Martin and were trying to get the 
story from him. But Martin, the Government photographer, 
is a modest chap and not inclined to brag about risking his life 
for pictures of the eruption of the famous Taal volcano. Taal, 
the "Cloud Maker," as the natives call it, is the great scenic 
asset of the Philippines — an active volcano on a low island in 
the center of a lake seventeen miles long and ten and a half 
miles wide, in Batangas Province, southern Luzon. The 
Americans call it Lake Taal and the Filipinos call it Lake 
Bombon. Some geologists say that Taal is in its death throes, 
but people in this part of the world thought it was much alive 
on the terrible night of January 30, 191 1. 

On the 28th news reached Manila that Taal was in eruption 
and Photographer Martin grabbed his camera and took the first 
train south. His wonderful photographs, taken during the 
days which followed, are proof of his skill and courage. Up 
to the night of the 29th he took pictures at close range on 
Volcanic Island and, if his plates had not given out, he would 
not be alive to tell the tale. As it was, he crossed the lake in 
the evening on his way to a village on the railroad for a fresh 
supply of plates. That night the mighty eruption occurred. 

Thousands of people, all over southern Luzon, witnessed 
it, for they had been living in dread for two days and nights 
because of the constant earthquakes. A man, 100 miles away 
from the lake, told me he saw the flames shoot up like a gigantic 
balloon, and the electrical display which followed was seen 250 
miles away. In the twinkling of an eye, 1,400 human beings 
perished. The extraordinary part of it is that they were not 

267 



268 



OUR COLONIES 



burned by the lava flow, or buried under ashes, but killed out- 
right by a mighty sand-blast. 

That noon Martin returned to the volcano and continued 
his series of photographs. Now horrible scenes were recorded. 
The dead were strewn all about. A strange incident is that 
two frolicsome little puppies were found alive, among the few 
surviving creatures on the island. The devastation was not 
only on the island, but on the western side of the lake, and, in 
areas where people escaped, crops and grass were destroyed 
and the domestic animals died of starvation. 

If there ever was a case of people being wedded to their 
native soil, it was here. Natives who survived wanted to go 
right back and build some more nip a houses in the shadow of 
the volcano. The Government, however, will no longer permit 
any one to live on the island, so Taal has it all to itself. 




TAAL VOLCANO IN ERUPTION, ICjII. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



269 







CRATER OF TAAL VOLCANO, LAKE BOMBON. 

I went down to Batangas Province on the railroad and 
drove over to Lake Bombon to have a look at the volcano. It is 
peaceful enough now ; quite a low mountain, not at all a beau- 
tiful cone like Mount Mayon, near the southernmost point of 
Luzon. Through drifting clouds, which fill the crater, sulphur- 
ous fumes rise, and sooner or later wicked Taal will belch once 
more, bringing death and destruction to the surrounding 
country. The Province of Batangas is very fertile. My 
photographer and I went down to the town of Batangas, the 
capital, which is on the seacoast seventy-two miles south of 
Manila. Looming up across the strait, twenty-four miles 
away, is the Island of Mindoro, Luzon's neighbor on the south. 

Batangas has 35,000 inhabitants and enjoys the distinction 
of being the section "where the fine horses come from." The 



270 OUR COLONIES 

grazing lands attracted the attention of the Spaniards, who 
stocked the fields with their best breeds. Some thirteen years 
ago General Bell, who until recently was the ranking military 
official in the Philippines, imported fine Arabian strains. Aus- 
tralia also furnished some hardy animals. Before automobiles 
became popular, Manila was a splendid market for matched 
teams, 2,000 pesos ($1,000) not being an unusual price. Now 
a "matched Batangas team" can be bought for a low figure. 

I rather questioned there being 35,000 inhabitants in Batan- 
gas ; the place did not look large enough. "Oh, they're here, 
all right," an American told me. "These sardine towns are 
bound to fool you on size, when you first come in. But if 
you'll shake up one of these straw shacks, you'll be surprised at 
the assorted mass of humanity that will pour out !" 

My informant was an officer from Camp McGrath, the big 
military post on a hill overlooking the city, an ideal situation, 
Six companies of colored troops are stationed here. A colonial 
company has 150 men, so, with the white officers and the band, 
the camp has close to 1,000 soldiers. The black soldiers are 
fine-looking specimens ; several of these companies were at the 
front in Cuba. Some of the men were playing baseball when 
I arrived, and the officer told me that McGrath has the cham- 
pion team of the Army League. 

"What supports Batangas besides the horse trade?" I asked. 
"Well, our soldiers help some, but it's a farming country around 
here, much rice being raised. Coffee used to be the leading 
product, but a deadly bug, or something, came along and killed 
it." "Yes, that's Mindoro across the way," he said — "the 
island there is so much talk about. You can go over in a big 
launch in about three hours, if the strait is smooth, but you're 
apt to be caught in a bagnio — that's a big wind — and marooned 
over there for days. Ward, the American who takes parties to 
Taal in the dry season, went over last week and couldn't get 
back until yesterday." 

I decided to "take a chance" to be able to say I had been on 
Mindoro, as the steamer I was to take south to Cebu and other 
islands would not touch at Mindoro ports. Until recently 






THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 271 

Mindoro, containing over 4,000 square miles, has had a bad 
name. "The most unhealthful place in the Philippines," they 
called it, and very little was done to develop it. Nowadays you 
hear a great deal about the vast tracts of valuable hardwoods 
on the Islands, and Mindoro will soon have an average of more 
than one and one-half inhabitants to the square mile. 

Puerto Galera, my destination on the northern coast, is a 
little landlocked harbor, noted for the remarkable transparency 
of its water, like that of Catalina Islands, off southern Califor- 
nia. The marine garden is a wonder, coral of every color and 
variety, and all the fish they try to catch for the aquarium — red, 
green, yellow, pink, lavender — every shade and combination 
you have ever dreamed of. I saw one fellow striped like a 
tiger and another which looked like a peacock. 

A few miles inland is Mount Halcon, 8,504 feet, one of the 
highest peaks in the Philippines. This is an ideal camping spot 
— fishing, sea-bathing and the best sort of hunting in the 
interior— deer, wild hogs, wild carabaos, ducks pigeons, jack- 
snipe and the jungle fowl, which looks like barnyard Leghorn. 
One of the rarest animals in the world is found only in 
Mindoro, the timarao, a small cousin of the wild carabao, very 
difficult to obtain and very dangerous. The man who goes 
after timarao must be sure of his nerve and his aim. 

Former Secretary of the Interior, Dean C. Worcester, 
hunted the Mindoro timarao in the eighties, when he was con- 
nected with a college in the States. The expedition with which 
he was connected brought out the first specimens of this wary 
animal. The only timarao in captivity, and possibly the only 
one ever captured alive, was recently on exhibition in Manila, 
before being sent to the European or American zoological 
garden which offered the highest price. 

Gordon, a well-known hunter, captured the eight-months- 
old timarao calf not long ago. The Manila papers published 
columns about it, how it followed its keeper about and would 
not sleep without a light in the corral, a regular " 'fraid baby," 
although its father and mother terrified the hunters before 
they were killed and the little one was secured. 



272 



OUR COLONIES 



After leaving Manila, I saw the Filipinos at close range 
and noted a number of queer customs. Any one who has 
lived on civilized fare is startled by some of the weird things 
they eat. Big grasshoppers, which play such havoc with 
the crops, are a luxury. For years they have been a great pest. 
The Spaniards brought over birds from China — martins — to 
exterminate them, but the hungry hoppers are still there. Last 




.,,.'. 



PULLING HEADS AND WINGS FROM GRASSHOPPERS SOLL 
FOR FOOD. 



season the Government had many men in the field driving the 
young locusts into pits and burning them. This may account 
for their high price in the market, 25 centavos (12^ cents) a 
pound — nice, fat, juicy hoppers ! 

They are not considered fit to eat unless they can fly. Then 
they are caught in hand nets, dropped into boiling water, and 
are ready to serve. I saw baskets heaped with them in the 
markets and the women selling them said, "Very good, senor, 
just like shrimps!" 

Another delicacy is balut, partially hatched duck eggs. The 






THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 273 

embryo duck is boiled in the shell. At the railroad stations you 
see the women, with trays on their heads, crying "Balut, balutT 
Very old men earn their living by lying on these eggs, but we 
failed to get a photograph of any of these human incubators. 

Immense fruit bats, three and four feet across, are relished 
by many. A man told me they catch them with kites, fish- 
hooks attached to the lines. He said he has counted forty kites 
on one night in a nearby field. At an army mess, not long 
before, two or three big bats were served as a joke and some 
of the men thought they were eating chicken. When they 
found out about it they were "good and mad." 

"I don't know why they made such a fuss," said the man 
who told the story. "The bats live on fruit and aren't 
unwholesome." 

Chewing the betel is a common habit among Filipinos of the 
poorer class. Their Malay ancestors chewed the nut from 
time immemorial, not only for the narcotic effect, but because 
they considered the black stain on the teeth a mark of beauty. 
The nut — of the areca palm — is plentiful in the Islands. The 
husk is about the size of a hen's egg and the nut within is a 
deep rose red. The natives chew it with slaked lime and a 
certain leaf found here. The combination relieves hunger and 
thirst, and acts as a "bracer." As the nut is chewed it stains 
the lips a brilliant red and, with constant expectoration, it is 
altogether a disgusting habit. Besides chewing the betel, the 
women smoke cigars and cigarettes. 



19 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE TAIL END OF LUZON. 
UT T 7HAT is the leading export of the Philippine 
V V Islands ?" I had the agricultural expert under cross- 
examination. "Last year it was hemp, but the year before it 
was copra — dried coconuts," he continued. "The two have 
been running neck and neck for some seasons. The bottom 
fell out of the hemp market a few years ago and it is only just 
recovering. The latest hemp figures are the record on quantity 
and value — $22,000,000, for 170,000 tons. I've just figured it 
out that one year's output of Manila hemp could tie up the 
world. If it were made into a cord an inch in circumference, it 
could wrap the earth at the equator sixty-three times around. 
If you want to see something of the industry, go down to Albay, 
at the tail end of Luzon. They grow clotheslines there while 
you wait !" So for Albay I started, taking in the copra indus- 
try on the way. 




SCENE IN THE COCONUT COUNTRY. 

274 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



275 




DRYING COCONUTS ( COPRA ) ON TRAYS. 



It was in La Laguna Province that I first met hemp's great 
rival in formidable array. When you stop to consider the 
number of coco palms it takes to produce 300,000,000 pounds 
of dried coconuts in a year, you know why the Filipino calls 
this "The Land of the Palm." 

Scientists have never been able to agree as to the country 
from which this most graceful and useful of palms started on 
its journey round the world. Some say Asia was its birth- 
place; others claim America. "A tropical isle in a Southern 
sea" is a compromise location, from whence it may have been 
distributed by ocean currents. It seems to have found a con- 
genial home in the Philippines, where it is of many varieties. 
In the southern islands there is a kind with a sweet, watery 
husk which is chewed by the natives like sugar cane. 

This coco palm is a real "meal-ticket" to the Filipino, for 
with two or three acres in coconuts, he is fairly sure of from 
$50 to $70 a year from each acre. Roughly estimated, each 
palm produces about one dollar's worth annually. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



277 



The early Spanish padres recognized that the milk of the 
coconut meant a surer revenue than the milk of the cow and 
encouraged the planting. All over southern Luzon there are 
forests of these palms, set in precise rows. The Filipino 
fairly outdoes the Chicago packer who utilizes all the hog but 
the squeal, for he turns to account every part of the palm — 
wood, leaves, meat of nut and oil. Of course the dried meat is 
the valuable product, worth millions each year. Still, in many 
of the islands, the natives forego this crop to obtain a drink 
called tuba, the fermented juice of the coconut flower. Whole 
groves are devoted to the production of this beverage. The 
aerial milkmen build bridges from palm to palm to save lost 




A TUBA GATHERER. 



278 



OUR COLONIES 



motion. The work is simple — the tip of each blossom cut and 
a joint of bamboo hung to catch the sap. A healthy tree pro- 
duces several flowers each month and a number of tubes often 
hang on the same tree. Twice daily the milkman climbs up to 
cut a new slice from the flower, to keep the wound bleeding. 
Two quarts daily is the average yield from one palm. 

In the fresh state, tuba has a sweetish taste; when fer- 
mented it is more palatable ; and when distilled is very strong. 
A second fermentation produces a vinegar which the agricul- 
turists claim is of the highest quality. However, the local 
demand for tuba exceeds the production, so coco-vinegar is 
not apt to be on the Philippine market. 

"Yes, the coconut fell to second place in the last record of 
exports, but even then the copra and oil were worth over 
$12,000,000. Just give us a few years more," said the grower, 











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ON THEIR WAY TO TOWN WITH COCONUTS. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 279 

"and we'll astonish the world. A few seasons ago our product 
was only used by confectioners and soap-boilers. Soap? 
Well, rather! Coconut-oil soap is the only kind that will dis- 
solve in salt water. And table butter? Just the thing! It 
makes first-class butter and the bulk of our copra now goes to 
France and Germany to be turned into 'Vegetaline' and 
'Cocoaline.' This, in turn, is shipped to Holland and Denmark 
and comes out as 'Dairy Butter.' And I don't see why coco- 
nut milk isn't as good as cow's milk. What do you think?" 

I acknowledged that all such canned butter is a godsend in 
the tropics where dairy products spoil without ice. Still, in 
spite of the opinion of the coconut grower, I believe there are 
a few cows left in Denmark and Holland. 

A considerable amount of coconut oil is used in the Philip- 
pines in house lamps, for street illumination and as a hair tonic. 
Like the Hindus and other Oriental women, the Filipinas oil 
their black tresses faithfully and this, with the native bark they 
use in washing it, may account for the luxuriant growth. 
There is a future for the manufacture of oil here on a large 
scale. The residue of the mill could be used as a stock food 
and as a fertilizer, ranking with cotton-seed cake for either 
purpose. 

Copra-making is a crude process. The husks are stripped 
by hand, an average operator handling 1,000 nuts a day. 
Halved with a big knife, or bolo, which every native in the 
country carries about with him, the meat is dried by the sun 
and the kernel drops out. Another drying over the fire, and 
the copra is ready for sacking. The husks, now burned and 
returned in ashes to the soil, could be made into coir fiber, in 
demand for packing lubricating journals on railroad cars. 

To reach the "tail" of Luzon, including the isolated prov- 
inces of Ambos Camarines, Albay and Sorsogon, I railroaded 
to Lucena, not far from Batangas, sailed over to the town of 
Pasacao and motored to Legaspi, capital of the flourishing 
province of Albay, heart of the hemp industry. The voyage 
from Manila to Legaspi can be made in two or three days on an 
inter-island steamer. 



280 



OUR COLONIES 




MOUNT MAYON, IN ALBAY PROVINCE, THE MOST PERFECT 
CONE ON EARTH. 

Visitors to this part of Luzon, and all who reach the Philip- 
pines on United States army transports which sail past Albay 
on their way to Manila, are greatly impressed with Mount 
Mayon, considered the most perfect cone in the world. It 
towers 7,943 feet above the plain and is an active volcano, 
having been in eruption as late as 1897. The late Dr. Paul C. 
Freer, director of the Manila Bureau of Science, has written a 
glowing account of his ascent of Mayon, comparing the view 
from its summit with the great ones of the world. 

"I have been high up on the slopes of Etna," he says, "at 
the entrance of the Val del Bove, from which many travelers 
maintain the finest view in the world is to be obtained; but I 
think the vista from the summit of Mayon surpasses the one 
from its sister volcano in Sicily." 

The ashes and dust of this majestic volcano have formed 
the soil of the richest Manila hemp province. The Philippine 
Islands have one great monopoly. In the production of hemp 
fiber they rule the world. There are other varieties of hemp 
on the market, but they are all outdistanced by the Philippine 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



281 



article, when strength, length and lightness are considered. 
Attempts to transplant the abaca, or Manila hemp plant, to 
India, Borneo and the West Indies have resulted in failure. 

I cannot tell the abaca from the banana plant, its near rela- 
tive. They both produce a fruit and a fiber, but the abaca fruit 
is worthless and the banana fiber lacks strength, so these two 
members of the Musa family achieve distinction on separate 
lines. 

While the great bulk of the hemp is used in the manufacture 
of rope, cordage and binder-twines, some of the fine varieties 
are utilized for fabrics, lace, and hat braids. 

Rainfall in this section is distributed throughout the year. 
A grower told me his crop would suffer if six weeks elapsed 
without rain. The plant requires little care and is not bothered 
by insect pests. After its third birthday it becomes a producer. 
Its great enemy is the wild hog, numerous in Luzon, with a 
decided fondness for young plants. Fencing becomes a neces- 
sity. 





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MANILA HEMP PLANTS. 



282 



OUR COLONIES 



The native seldom plows the ground before planting, just 
burns it over and sets the plants ten or twelve feet apart. As 
a rule the owner works on shares with the workmen, who strip 
the fiber from the plant. Twelve to twenty stalks grow from 
one root and these are split, the layers separated and drawn 
between a block of wood and a sharp knife. The fiber is then 
hung over bamboo poles, exactly like a washing put out to dry. 
I have seen it twelve feet long, looking like spun glass in the 
sunlight. The drying takes a day or two and then the hemp 
is tied in bundles and shipped to the nearest market, often 
traveling by carabao cart. The exporter sorts it into commer- 
cial grades, packs it in 275-pound bales, and off it goes to the 
four corners of the earth. The so-called Manila paper is made 
from old rope. 

The Department of Agriculture here makes the statement 
that a young man with $5,000 to invest, willing to live in the 
tropics, can make money in growing hemp. The industry seems 




NATIVES LOADING HEMP. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



283 



to have attracted a 
number of former 
G o v e r nment em- 
ployes, and soldiers 
whose term of ser- 
vice has expired. 

The southernmost 
portion of Luzon, 
bordered by the In- 
ter-Island Sea and 
the Pacific Ocean, 
and connected with 
the island of Luzon 
proper by a narrow 
strip of land, is the 
home of the Bicols 
— Christian Filipinos 
who form about 7 
per cent of the total 
population of the Is- 
lands. The Bicols 
rank among the 

most energetic and progressive in the Philippines. They stand 
fourth in number among the ten Christian tribes. In their 
case it is easy to see how the isolation of their country, through 
years when good roads and coastwise steamers were unknown, 
led to the preservation of their dialect and distinctive char- 
acteristics. 



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A HEMP PRESS. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



HISTORIC CAVITE. 

CAVITE is historic. Long before the Spaniards came the 
Malays called the place "Kawit," or fishhook, because the 
slender peninsula, curving out into Manila Bay, Luzon Island, 
has the exact crook of a fishhook with two sharp points at the 
end. To one of these sand spits the Chinese, or "Sangley," 
came with their trading junks as far back as 1200 A. D., 
according to history, and probably centuries earlier. Today 
this is known as Sangley Point. 

On the twin tip of the fishhook, just across the little Bay 
of Canacao, the Spanish dons built their town in the sixteenth 
century, calling it Cavite, which was as near as they could come 
to the native "Kawit." From here the galleon set sail every 
year for Acapulco, Mexico, laden with silks from China and 
wares from India — the only regular means of communication 
for 300 years between Asia and America. 

a And here in Canacao Bay, off Old 

Cavite, on that memorable May morning in 

/ 1898, Dewey sank the Spanish squadron 

— i« and American history in the Philippines 

began. 

The town of Cavite, which has a popu- 
lation of about 5,000 and is the capital of 
the province of the same name, is about 
eight miles southwest of Manila. There 
are three ways of reaching it from Manila 
— by steamer in an hour; by road for 
twenty-six miles along the coast ; or by 
rail. We chose the last route. It took us 
through the town of Pasay, past the Ma- 
nila Polo Club and to the sleepy little 




A CAVITE HAT. 



284 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



285 



village of Las Piiias, where we got off to see an ancient organ 
with pipes of bamboo, 600 of them, built by an ingenious priest 
back in 1787. The curious old instrument is still able to wail 
and wheeze. Its builder sent a duplicate organ as a gift to the 
Queen of Spain and the records relate she was very proud of 
it, claiming there was nothing like it in England or in Spain 
(and it is quite safe to say there wasn't) ! 




AN ORGAN WITH BAMBOO PIPES 



286 OUR COLONIES 

The approach to Cavite Town is unique. The train creeps 
along a narrow strip of land with the Bay of Manila on either 
side and pulls up at the village of San Roque where travelers 
take carromatas and drive over a neck of land, hardly wider 
than a boulevard, to the old walled city of Cavite. 

Passing the hoary fortifications we came on to a shaded 
waterfront where the old galleons were fitted out and I was 
just conjuring up a picturesque troupe of Spanish adventurers 
when a man in the United States naval uniform pointed across 
Canacao Bay and said : "There's our naval hospital, and beyond, 
on Sangley Point, is the coaling station. The naval station is 
here in Cavite at the extreme end of the town, at least that part 
of it which hasn't been transferred to Olongapo, up the coast 
in Zambales Province. Yes, this is the very bay where the 
Spanish fleet lay asleep sixteen years ago May Day, when we 
sailed in." 

"Any men around here who were in the battle?" I asked, 
and the officer produced a jolly old salt, who told me "just 
ho^ it happened." 

"We were over in Hong Kong, Dewey and the rest of us, 
when war was declared. The British gave us just twenty-four 
hours to quit port, so, having our orders to destroy the Spanish 
fleet, we cut out for Manila Bay. We had only four cruisers, 
two gunboats, a cutter, collier and supply ship, not much of a 
fleet, you'd say, but it was plenty. When we sighted 'em at 
dawn, we just went to it and pounded them with the best we 
had. We circled in front of 'em, landing broadside after 
broadside, until we had 'em wiped off the sea. Do you know, 
those Spaniards fired twice as many shots as we and did us no 
damage excepting on the Baltimore, where six men were 
wounded by a shell, but back on duty almost immediately. 
We killed and wounded hundreds of the enemy." 

I asked about an old hulk lying in the bay. "Why, that's 
the Cyrus Wakefield of Thomaston, Maine," he said. "She 
was a champion, a 3,000 tonner, held the world's record as a 
sailing vessel. Made a voyage from Frisco to Liverpool and 
back in less than seven months, Captain Hibbard in command. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



287 



They say she came from the equator to Frisco in eleven days 
and you can bet that's going some! Now she lies here as a 
store-ship, but it's 'Hats off, mates !' to a champion, even if she 
is a 'has been.' " 

There is a lot of Chinese blood in Cavite. Every other face 
seems to have a Mongolian cast. For centuries Chinamen have 
been marrying the native women and the isolation of the place 
has tended to preserve the type. The town is Spanish in 
appearance — narrow streets, massive doorways, overhanging 




A COCK PIT, TEMPLE OF TEMPLES IN EVERY PHILIPPINE TOWN. 



balconies. There are one or two interesting old churches and 
a padre who has the history of the town at his finger tips. 

When we drove back to San Roque to board the train, we 
met a care-free crowd returning from the cock pit. The win- 
ners were in carromatas, but the losers were on foot. 

Every village, or barrio, in the Philippines has its cock pit. 
The cock fight is still the principal diversion of the masses, 
and, in spite of American frowns, retains its drawing power. 
Undoubtedly introduced from Mexico by the early Spaniards, 
it has thrived and today is the only means left the Filipino to 



288 



OUR COLONIES 



satisfy his passion for gambling. While banished from the 
city of Manila, cock fighting is carried on just over the muni- 
cipal boundary on every Sunday and holiday. The Government 
exacts a license and the municipal fathers add a tax adjusted to 
the prosperity of the pit. On a live Sunday, American flag 
flying, from thirty to forty matches are fought in the country 
cock pits and, near Manila, fully double the number. Con- 
siderable money changes hands at the pit, and it is from the 
commission on all bets placed, as well as from the admission 
fee and reserved seat sale, that the management derives its 
profit, enabling it to meet the high license. 

One point in connection with cock fighting impressed me 
greatly — the honesty which characterizes the Filipino in his 
gambling ventures. Money in all amounts is tossed into the 
betting booth and no tickets are issued. When the match is 
decided the winner calls at the booth, states the amount of the 
bet and receives his winnings. There is never a question about 
it. No Filipino would dream of lying as to the amount of his 
bet. 

On the way back to Manila, we left the train at Kawit, or 




OPENING SHELLS USED FOR WINDOW-PANES. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



>8o. 




SELLERS OF COAL OIL, CAVITE. 



Old Cavite, where most of the people earn a living by fishing 
for window-panes. Shell takes the place of glass in Philippine 
windows and with good reason. In this tropical land, the soft 
light which comes through the shell is very grateful to the 
eyes. Then these thin wafer-like shells are better able to meet 
the typhoon's blast. 

In some of the old churches, shell windows, exposed for 
centuries, are still in service. When broken the shells are 
easily replaced. Above all, they are cheap. "What do they 
sell for?" I asked a Kawit merchant. He had three prices, he 
admitted — 8 pesos per 1,000 for the Filipino; 10 pesos for the 
Spaniard; 12 pesos for the American. 

Two sizes of shell panes are placed on the market — three 
inches square, and two and one-half inches square. When 
found the shells are almost ready for use, as one side is flat and 
it simply requires squaring in a crude machine, such as is used 
20 



290 



OUR COLONIES 



in cutting plug tobacco. The valve half of the shell, which is 
convex, is of little value. 

This window shell is found throughout the Islands, but the 
largest beds are in Manila Bay, near Kawit. As Manila alone 
uses 5,000,000 shell panes annually, the Kawit fishermen are 
kept busy. They gather about 15,000 shells a week, wading out 
to their waists at low tide and feeling for the shells with their 
toes. When their baskets are full, the men wade ashore and 
turn the catch over to the women, who dexterously open the 
shells, remove the contents, and pile the flat shells up for 
cutting. They told me there were 10,000 trimmed shells in one 
basket ready for shipment across Manila Bay. All the new 
buildings in Manila — the American cathedral, the hospital, the 
Y. M. C. A. Building, the New Manila Hotel and others- 
have shell windows. 

I have since inquired regarding shipment to the States and 
learn that 2,000 pounds of shell panes were sent to New York 
last year from one of the southern islands. Builders of bung- 
alows, especially in California, may take to shell windows in 
time. They are certainly strong, cheap and attractive. I 
believe they have a future, too, in screens, lamp-shades and 
conservatory windows. 




THE HOME OF GENERAL AGUINALDO, CAVITE. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



291 




Our chief object in stopping off in 

Kawit was to call on and photograph 

Emilio Aguinaldo, once the famous revo- 
lutionary leader of the Filipinos, now a 

quiet country gentleman. "General 

Emilio" they call him in Kawit, and his 

house is the only pretentious one in the 

village. 

Not one American in fifty can tell 

you whether there are three or three 

thousand islands in the Philippines, but 

every one has heard of Aguinaldo. He 

was a leader in the fight of the Filipinos 

against the Spanish before our time. It 

is said he abandoned the revolution 

against Spain for the payment of 800,000 

pesos, one-half in cash, the remainder to 

be paid later, and went into exile in Hong 

Kong. The Spaniards defaulted the 

second payment, claiming that the revo- 
lution had not been stamped out. Then came Dewey's victory 

and Aguinaldo's return to the Philippines, first to cooperate 

with our forces, later to proclaim himself leader of the revolu- 
^^&. tionary forces against us. It was a 

JK Wk long, bitter fight before the final 

defeat at San Fernando. Agui- 
naldo fled to the north, through 
forests and over mountains, and 
every "grown up" in America 
knows how General Funston fol- 
lowed and captured him. Agui- 
naldo took an oath of allegiance to 
the American Government, quit 
politics and became a farmer. 

My card brought the response 
that the General would be pleased 
to greet me, and he came in immedi- 



GENERAL AGUINALDO. 




CAVITE GIRL WEAVING A HAT. 



292 



OUR COLONIES 




SEEN NEAR CAVITE. 



ately, a man of slight build, 
medium height, rather youthful 
for his forty-odd years, with a 
strong Chinese strain in evidence. ^ 
He speaks English fairly well, 1 l^r 
Spanish perfectly. The press » * 
had been giving attention to the 
supposed visit of a son of Agui- 
naldo to the Emperor of Japan 
to request neutrality in case of 
another Philippine revolution 
against Uncle Sam. Aguinaldo 
smiled when I asked him about 
this. He had no son in Japan, 
he said. His sons lived here 
and one was at school in Manila. 
"Daughters! Yes," he said, 
"and granddaughters as well ! 
Yes, I'm out of politics, have 
been a farmer these many years. 
Many American officials came 
down from Manila to a break- 
It was in honor of the Saint Day 



fast with me not long ago. 

of Kawit. I appreciate your coming here, but we have so little 

to show you. The church? Yes, it is old, of the early Spanish 

days. Perhaps you noticed the marks of the cannon balls? 

The Province of Cavite was pretty well fought over in the 

nineties." 

"My photograph? Yes, certainly. We will go out into 
the garden. Tell your readers that the picture is of Emilio 
Aguinaldo, Farmer." 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

OUR LITTLE NIN^-MILLION -DOLLAR ROAD. 

4 4 \70U aren't going to take all that paraphernalia over the 

X mountain trails in the rainy season?" 

"Indeed, we are," I said, "cameras and plates are our long 
suit just now, for we're after photographs." 

We were bound for Baguio, the summer capital, in the great 
Mountain Province of Luzon. 

The Americans in the Philippines were not the first to build 
a summer capital, a mountain seat of government up in the 
pure air of the pines. I have visited Simla in India, Buiten- 
zorg, the hill city of Java, and Petropolis, high above Rio de 
Janeiro — all places where officials can keep on working, while 
recuperating from the ills of the fever-laden lowlands. But, 
among such highland capitals, Baguio, in the mountains of 
northern Luzon, is unique. It has cost $9,000,000 to build 
and maintain the Benguet Road which leads to it ! 

March, April and May are the months, the very hot months, 
when the Government packs up, bag and baggage, and takes to 
the tall timber. While only 900 Government employes are 
moved up to Baguio, about 4,000 relatives and friends follow 
the procession, and the little town is at its gayest. I saw it 
when the hot season was past, at a time when storms play 
havoc with the road. 

It is a long way up to Baguio from Manila. First there is 
a seven hours' railway journey across the great central plain 
of Luzon, through five provinces — Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, 
Tarlac and Pangasinan. 

Rizal is the province in which Manila lies. It is named, of 
course, for the Philippine patriot. Rice fields border the track. 
We passed the grounds of the Manila Golf Club. 

In Bulacan we came to the town of Malolos where Agui- 

293 



294 OUR COLONIES 

naldo had his capital for a short time during the insurrection. 
There are iron deposits in this province worked by a Tagalog 
woman, Dona Marie Altesa Fernando. From her little fur- 
naces in the jungle, the molten metal is poured into molds 
forming plow points. Slung on bamboo poles, they are carried 
down to the valley and on by ox-cart to the neighboring 
provinces. 

Coming in sight of the Zambales Mountains, rising between 
the plain and the China Sea, we entered the interesting province 
of Pampanga. 

You have heard of the Macabebes who fought so valiantly 
with our forces against the other Filipinos? They came 
from the town of Macabebe in Pampanga. Above all the 
Christian people of the Philippines, these Pampangans have the 
martial spirit. They fought with the Dutch army in Java in 
the seventeenth century; with Simon de Anda, the Spaniard, 
here in the Philippines, when he met the invading British in 
the eighteenth century; with Ward and Gordon in China 
in the nineteenth century. The Macabebe is a born fighter. 
Today he is an important element in the Philippine Scouts. It 
was at San Fernando in Pampanga Province that the final 
battle between the American and Philippine troops was fought. 

In Tarlac we came to a big irrigation plant. They raise 
sugar here, rice, and a little tobacco. Over on the east I saw a 
most curious dome-shaped mountain, rising abruptly from the 
plain, not another mountain, or even a foothill, in sight. 

"It's Mount Arayat," some one said. "It's over 3,000 feet. 
The people around here have many legends associated with 
it." 

The Agno, second river of Luzon, flows through this part of 
the country. Much of the land was under water and the 
people were out in the fields, waist deep in the muddy tide. I 
saw a number of boys taking a bath with their carabaos. 

We left the train at Dagupan in Pangasman Province, on 
the coast of the China Sea. In the dry season travelers bound 
for Baguio can go within twenty-two miles of the capital, to 
Camp One on the Benguet Road. The railroad is strung along 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 295 

the river bed for quite a distance and when the season's traffic 
is past, rails and ties are taken up. Otherwise the river would 
"get 'em." 

The Manila-Dagupan line enjoys the distinction of being the 
first railroad constructed in the Philippines. It was the only 
one in existence when the American troops landed. It is a 
"dinky," narrow-gauge affair with British officials and Filipino 
crews. It was built originally with English money, but the 
Speyer Syndicate of New .York has taken it over. The British 
officials still hold down most of the desks and operate the line in 
the "same old way," which has proved profitable. Filipinos 
love to travel and the management gives them a nice long ride 
for their money — long in the point of time! The average 
speed of automobiles here is just twice that of trains! 

Three classes of tickets are sold and most of the natives ride 
third class. The management seldom discharges an employe, 
finding that a system of fines works to better advantage. The 
crews and station hands receive small wages, from $15 to $30 a 
month, but it sounds and is twice as much in pesos. 

The railway has been continued about thirty miles up the 
coast beyond Dagupan and in time will reach the prosperous 
Ilocos provinces, on the northwest coast. 

A Swiss engineer had just arrived on the ground to con- 
struct a branch from this main line, connecting Aringay with 
Baguio. It will be a scenic route, twenty-four miles in length, 
including nine miles of cog or rack, and will displace Luzon's 
greatest advertised feature, the Benguet Road. 

This bit of road, thirty miles long, climbing 5,000 feet, has 
been a bone of contention between the insular Government and 
the Philippine press. The Filipinos were not in sympathy with 
the summer capital idea, and they knew the difficulties of build- 
ing and maintaining a road up a river gorge in this country, 
where earthquakes, typhoons and the heaviest rainfall on earth 
are to be battled with. American engineers reported that the 
work could be done at a reasonable figure and were told to go 
ahead. It was to be a scenic route and scenery comes high, but 
no one connected with the Government dreamed that it would 



296 



OUR COLONIES 



eat up a fortune, or that the difficulties would be so great. 

"How much has it cost?" I asked an engineer in Dagupan. 

"Oh! we've quit keeping books on it. It's reached the 
18,000,000 pesos mark !" 

This meant $9,000,000 of good old American gold. I sat 
up and took notice! Certainly another record in the Philip- 




SOME OF THE ZIGZAGS OF THE GREAT BENGUET ROAD, 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 297 

pines ! About $60 a foot, $5 an inch ! A case of "climbing up 
the golden stairs !" 

"Just wait till you see it," said the engineer. "I tell }OU it's 
'some road.' You'll realize, going up, now the rains are on, 
what we are up against! Why, in 1909, the most severe 
typhoon ever experienced by white men in the Benguet country 
struck the road. It raged all night and there was a rainfall of 
twenty-three inches in ten hours. The Bued River rose sixty 
feet and tore out over 100 bridges. One of them, Number 142, 
made of steel, was just twisted into a knot. You'll see it up 
the line. We lost seven men in that blow and it took us over 
two months, working day and night, to get the road open again. 
Every season it's about the same thing. When the rains come, 
we have a bunch of slides as hard to control as was the famous 
Culebra slide at the Panama Canal. And bridges ! We are 
just sticking them in the whole time." 

It is generally admitted now that the building of the Ben- 
guet Road was a mistake. The route which the new railway 
will follow would have been much cheaper for construction and 
maintenance. When the mistake was discovered the invest- 
ment was considered too great to be abandoned. 

Since the road was opened, five years ago, it has been the 
prize automobile trip of the Islands. The Bureau of Public 
Works has charge of the transportation and has an assortment 
of machines in service, the bulk of the passenger trade being 
hauled by six-cylinder, low-geared French cars, although some 
American "steamers" have given good service. 

I paid ten dollars for my auto ticket from Dagupan to 
Baguio and seven cents a pound on baggage. We rode out 
over one of the finest highways I have seen in any land, for 
Pangasinan Province won the prize last season for its roads. 
There seemed to be a continuous town for miles, a row of 
"grass" houses on either side of the glistening white highroad 
and every one hanging out of the windows to see the Ameri- 
canos go past. There were only a few passengers in the car, 
as traffic was then light going up. The chauffeur was a 
Filipino. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



299 



From Camp One we started up the Bued canyon on a shelf 
of rock hewn above the stream. Waterfalls at every hand, 
magnificent tropical vegetation, fine views of the plain below. 
We came to a series of six switchbacks, known as the "Zigzag," 
a rise of 900 feet in two and one-half miles. The road main- 
tains a fairly even grade. It is a wonderful piece of engineer- 
ing. There is a block system throughout to prevent accidents. 

We came to three places where the recent typhoon had 
washed the road out and it was a case of "hiking," while men 




IGOROTS TRANSFORMED INTO SOLDIERS. 



dragged the luggage over steep, slippery trails. A machine, in 
waiting on the other side of the slide, took us on to the next 
break. We landed in Baguio after nightfall, a long day's 
journey from Manila. 

The morning was clear and we went out to see the town. 
Its out-of-season population, including the Igorots, is 3,500. 
You cannot see the place all at once, as it wanders up hill and 
down dale in a bewildering fashion. The late D. H. Burnham, 
famous as a municipal architect, laid out the plan and divided 
the town into two sections — one for Government buildings and 



3 oo OUR COLONIES 

residences, one for trade. There are several rather imposing 
official residences besides the municipal buildings. Ex-Gov- 
ernor Forbes has a fine private home called "Topside," which 
he will probably retain. The roads through the town — they 
are all roads, rather than streets — are excellent. In time, when 
the place builds up, it may really look like a city. Now it is 
more like a first-class frontier post. 

Camp John Hay, which is really a part of Baguio, is the 
military camp, above all others in the Philippines, where our 
soldiers go to win a new lease of life. Its amphitheater, of 
which General Bell was justly proud, is the most attractive fea- 
ture of the mountain capital — carved right out of the hillside 
above the pine-clad valley — tier on tier hedged by flowering 
plants. 

Will the Benguet Road be abandoned when the new railroad 
is finished? Most people here say "No !" The army will take 
it over, they tell me. As one man said, "The army doesn't have 
to itemize the cost of everything. It is all charged to the gen- 
eral up-keep." 

The Filipinos have begun to come to Baguio.* If, in time, 
it becomes the place where people from the tropical plains gain 
health and strength in the crisp mountain air — if it leads to the 
development of a hardier type of Filipino — then perhaps the 
millions sunk in the Benguet Road will not have been spent in 
vain. 



*As this volume goes to press I am informed that the Govern- 
ment has abandoned, for the present, the custom of going up to 
Baguio during the hot season. Surely this is false economy, since 
life and health are worth more than dollars, or has the present 
Philippine policy produced official poverty? 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



"i 



THE DOG-EATING IGOROTS. 
F YOU'LL wait over until Sunday, you'll see the greatest 
dog show on earth," they told me in Baguio. As Sun- 
day was only two days off, I decided to remain. 

This Baguio dog market is a weekly event. From coast and 
lowland valley, about a thousand half-starved, yelping curs are 
dragged up to the mountains to be sold to the dog-eating 
Igorots. These primitive people live around Baguio and 
through a large section of the great Mountain Province of 
Luzon. The dogs begin to arrive on Friday and by Saturday 
night their part of the market, given a separate section by the 
municipal authorities, is crowded. On Sunday morning hun- 




THE DOG MARKET. 
301 



302 



OUR COLONIES 



dreds of Igorots come down the trails to Baguio, the men clad 
in old coats and "gee-strings," the little brown women in home- 
spun skirts and blouses, laden baskets on their backs, held by a 
thong over the forehead. The women come to sell a little 
produce. They are not the shoppers. Dog-buying is a man's 
work. 

The Igorot does not decide hastily. He examines dozens 
of brutes before finding one exactly to his liking. Most of the 
dogs are of the thin, "skin-tight" variety, with very little hair. 
"Yes, they like 'em best when they're thin. They'll fatten 
'em up with rice before killing," said a man who knew all about 
it. "You see a dog should have very little hair. They say 
hair flavors the meat. That fellow has just paid three pesos 
for one." 

Two pesos (one dollar) seemed the average price. The 
Tgorot gazed admiringly at his purchase, as he dragged it away 
at the end of a bamboo stick. 

"He's come twenty miles, most likely, to buy that dog. 
He'll take two weeks to fatten it and then there'll be a feast. 

They take a long, sharp rattan and 
run it through the live dog. Then 
they tie the rattan to posts on 
either side of the fire. They 
swing the dog round and round 
for about fifteen minutes and, 
when he is half cooked, they cut 
him up in small pieces and eat 
everything but the feet and tail. 
The tail is considered fit only for 
an enemy. When the meat is 
being served, they all sit around 
the fire, with their bolos upright 
between their toes, and tear the 
meat into smaller bits on the edge 
of the sharp knives, scorching it 
again before eating. It is any- 
thing but a pleasant sight. 




TWO LITTLE IGOROT BRIDES, 

WEDDED AT THE AGE 

OF TWELVE. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 303 

"But hasn't the Government done anything to stop this dog- 
eating?" I asked. 

"Oh! It will pass in time. We've interfered as little as 
possible with their established customs. They're fond of dog 
meat and it's cheap. At one of the Government stores for 
Igorots, they stocked up with some novelties — canned salmon 
and that sort of thing — but sales were slow. Then a consign- 
ment of bologna sausages arrived and they went like hot-cakes. 
I'm not saying what was inside those sausages, but it looks as 
though there are dog markets outside of the Philippines !" 

The Mountain Province of Luzon, through which we made 
an extensive journey, occupies the whole of the central moun- 
tain region of the island. It is divided into seven subprovinces, 
each with an American Lieutenant-Governor and a small force 
of constabulary. The constabulary officers are Americans, but 
the soldiers are recruited, for the most part, from the inhabi- 
tants, known as the Wild Tribes. In three of the subprovinces 
— Benguet, Lepanto and Bontoc — the Igorots live. The other 
wild people on Luzon are the Ifugaos, Kalingas, Tinguians, 
Ilongots and Negritos, the two last living outside the Moun- 
tain Province. All of these people were head-hunters not very 
long ago, but the practice has been effectively checked in most 
of the territory since the Americans arrived. The capital of 
the Mountain Province is Bontoc, about 130 miles from Baguio, 
and for Bontoc we started, over the famous mountain trail. 

I hired Igorot carriers, six men, for fifty centavos (twenty- 
five cents) apiece per day, each to carry fifty pounds and sup- 
ply his own food. In Africa I had paid ten cents a day per 
man for porters who carried sixty pounds apiece on their 
heads, we furnishing one pound of meal a day and all the 
game each could eat. 

We started out over a carriage road which ends in the 
Trinidad Valley, three miles from Baguio. Here the Bureau 
of Agriculture has an experimental farm. Now we began to 
climb over a trail where there is no telephone or telegraph com- 
munication with the outside world. The Government, however, 
has established rest-houses along the way, three in a distance of 



3°4 



OUR COLONIES 



eighty-five miles between Baguio and Cervantes, which is the 
first town we reached. The mornings were sunny, but in the 
afternoon we were drenched and the little log cabins, hanging 
to the mountain side, where meals and beds are furnished and 
pine logs are ablaze in the open fireplaces, were welcome havens 
indeed. The saddle horses had a fine feed, rice in the husk 
and rich grass, with sweet potatoes on the side. It was amusing 
to see the little native ponies pitching into the potatoes. 

The trail was only in fair condition. In the dry season it is 
said to be excellent. We had to climb over landslides and ford 
a good many rivers. At two of them we slid over in a car 
suspended to a cable, while the horses swam across, natives 
swimming alongside. 

This trail was built with Igorot labor. Each year they must 
pay a road tax of two pesos or work ten days on the trail. All 
but the big chiefs among them work it out. We met them all 
along — clearing away slides and filling in gaps — under the 
direction of an overseer of mixed blood. It was only a few 




BANANA-LEAF SKIRTS AND DOG-TOOTH NECKLACES, NEAR BANT0C. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



305 




THE OLAG, WHERE CERTAIN UNMARRIED WOMEN 
LIVE IN BONTOC. 

months before that a young American, son of a Government 

scientist, was carried to his death by a big slide on this trail and 

we heard of many accidents in the rainy season. 

The mountains of a tropical country, in spite of their 

danger, exhibit earth's most charming scenes. Nowhere else 

have I seen such glorious views. The giant tree-fern and the 

majestic pine meet on Luzon's hillsides; tropical verdure 

clothes the valleys and a sea of mist floats between the forest 

and the luminous tinted clouds which are the glory of the 

Philippines. Begonias and ferns border the trail and the 

Benguet lily, much like our Bermuda lily, gleams out from its 

mossy setting. Far away over the blue ranges lie the plain 

and the China Sea. 

We saw but few Benguet and Lepanto villages. These 
21 



306 



OUR COLONIES 



Igorots are classed as one and are docile. I do not think they 
are included in the list of head-hunters. For many years they 
have been in contact with the Spaniards and the Christian Fili- 
pinos of the plain. Their distinctive feature is a cloth, worn 
about the head like a semi-turban. The women wear waists, 
which shows the Christian influence, but away from the mission 
schools of Baguio and Sagada, and the influence of the whites, 
they are a dirty, squalid lot, but well put up. 

The fourth evening out we rode into Cervantes, a Christian 
town with Igorot trimmings, rather an important place in Span- 
ish days. From here there is a cart road to the seaport of 
Tagudin, two days away. This is usually the way people come 
in to Bontoc. 

Before crossing over from Lepanto to Bontoc, we came to 
the Episcopal Mission School at Sagada, which is certainly 
worthy of notice. Father Staunton and his wife heard of this 
pagan village with 4,000 souls and decided to move up there 




MRS. STAUNTON AND HER PUPILS, EPISCOPAL MISSION SCHOOL, SAGADA. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



307 



from Baguio. That was six years ago. In the meantime the 
value of soap over dirt, trousers over gee-strings, beef over 
dog, board houses over those made of grass, has been demon- 
strated to the Igorots. They have learned to use the saw and 
the plane instead of the primitive ax. They have been taught 
to work as well as to pray. 

There is a sawmill at Sagada which supplies lumber to 
neighboring towns. There is a quarry and a brickyard, an 
electric lighting plant, a machine-shop and a printing press. 
Not only the mission boys and girls, but the entire community 
has been uplifted by the dignity of labor. The success here, 
with such raw material, is little short of marvelous. 

The Bontocs eat dogs still, are very dirty in their persons, 
and their villages are simply filthy. But they are skillful agri- 
culturists and are classed, by students of the subject, as the most 
courageous fighters among the hill tribes. Physically they are 
a great improvement over the other Igorots. There are 76,000 
Bontocs and until recently head-hunting was their chief diver- 
sion. They still take the head of an enemy occasionally, in 




NATIVE SECTION OF BONTOO 



308 OUR COLONIES 

remote parts of the province, but, on the whole, are pretty well 
under control. 

The men wear clouts, the women strips of cloth tied about 
the body below the waist. Both are tattooed, both have large 
holes in the lobes of the ears into which all sorts of weird orna- 
ments are stuck. The women prize dog-tooth necklaces and 
the men bang their hair and let it grow long in back, thrusting 
the stringy ends into a little rattan basket-like hat, tied on the 
back of the head. They make head-axes and lances, earthen 
pots and rather artistic pipe bowls of clay and brass. Some of 
the women weave serviceable cloth from the thread of a bark 
fiber. 

Thousands of people huddle together in a small village, 
which would hardly seem to hold a hundred. The usual type 
of house is simply a peaked roof, squatting low on the ground, 
a row of boards serving as a side wall, a dirt floor. The pig- 
pen is attached to the house and I thought the pigs much 
cleaner than the people. 

Bontoc, capital of the Mountain Province, has a neat Ameri- 
can quarter with thirty citizens from the United States. They 
have fine brick buildings — a clubhouse, constabulary post, hos- 
pital, churches and municipal buildings. There is even a prison 
for the "wild" ones of the Wild Tribes. 

"We are 3,000 feet above the sea and pity the coast people," 
they told me. "There are enough of us here to have quite a 
little social life." I recalled this later, when a lonely constabu- 
lary officer, far off on the frontier, spoke longingly of Bontoc. 

"It's a great place," he said. "They have afternoon teas 
and dances. Oh, it's quite a city! If you want to be talked 
about just go to Bontoc." 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE CHAMPION TERRACE BUILDERS. 

I KNOW it is hard to believe, but up in the mountains of 
northern Luzon some savages wearing only clouts and 
spears have built the most colossal terraces in the world. The 
rice gardens of the Ifugaos, who are counted among the Wild 
Tribes of the Philippines, form the greatest industrial under- 
taking in the Islands. Tier on tier they rise, like gigantic steps, 
from the depths of the canyon to the clouds on the mountain 
top. In the 800 square miles of Ifugao territory, the length of 
the supporting walls of these terraces is two and one-half times 
the circumference of the globe, or about 65,000 miles. 




SECTION OF THE WONDERFUL IFUGAO RICE TERRACES. 

309 



3io 



OUR COLONIES 




IFUGAOS, WHO HAVE BEEN DANCING AROUND THEIR IDOL. 

Simple necessity inspired this mighty work. Originally a 
lowland people, generations ago, the Ifugaos were driven to 
this mountain stronghold by other Malay tribes. Raising rice 
at an angle became their specialty. They built terraces encir- 
cling the mountains, supporting them with strong stone walls. 
They graduated as hydraulic engineers, carrying water for 
miles and feeding it to the rice patches, the retaining walls 
allowing about a foot of water to flood the crops. Then they 
went a step in advance of civilized races by fertilizing the irri- 
gating streams with ashes and decayed vegetable matter. Old 
Gravity did the rest. After spending days among these people 
and riding across their country, I decided that, considering 
their primitive condition, no agricultural achievement in the 
world can compare with theirs ! 

When we rode into Ifugao from Bontoc, these acrobatic 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



3" 



farmers were preparing their terraces for planting. First the 
Good Spirits who guard the growing rice must be asked for 
another season's protection. We saw groups of chiefs on cliffs 
above the canyon conducting the ceremony. Their tall spears 
were stuck in the ground in a circle around strings of beads 
hung on a stick. Of course the Good Spirits will have the 
friendly assistance of the tall red plants, resembling feather 
dusters, which grow at the head of each terrace. The Evil 
One, who brings blight to the crop, is "pow'ful scart" of this 
flaming vegetable wonder. 

The chiefs wore no clothing excepting clouts of somber hue. 
Loud colors are taboo in Ifugao. They showed they belonged 
to the "upper set" by their ornaments — large earrings, neck- 
laces with copper charms, bracelets of heavy brass wire in 
spiral form, and handsome belts of strung shells. I learned 
later that these round shell ornaments, with holes in the center, 
used to be their money. They were all smoking little brass 
pipes. Some were tattooed on the neck and chest and their 




AN IFUGAO DWELLING. 



312 OUR COLONIES 

hair was cut in an outlandish fashion. It looked as though a 
bowl had been clapped on the head and the hair, sticking out 
in the back, chopped off evenly with a bolo. 

A little farther on we came to some women toiling up the 
almost perpendicular hillside, where yams are planted in sys- 
tematic rows. Oblong baskets, filled with these big sweet 
potatoes, were balanced on their heads. When they saw us 
they were afraid of the horses and slid down the trail. 

In clothing the women are about as poverty-stricken as the 
men. A very short skirt, beginning below the waist and ending 
at the knee, is their sole garment. They, too, wear necklaces, 
and beads in their hair. They are about the best-looking sav- 
ages I have ever seen. 

We came to a cluster of huts on a knoll. The Ifugaos do 
not live in villages like the Bontocs. Their houses are grouped 
in tiny hamlets like sentinels on the mountains. 

An Ifugao house is a great improvement over the home of 
the dog-eating Igorot. The Ifugao does not feast on dog and 
he does not eat with his fingers. He uses a carved wooden 
spoon about the size of our tablespoon. He sets his house up 
on four posts, with great circles of wood about each post to 
keep the rats out. All about the house he hangs rattan baskets 
with sliding doors, into which he puts the chickens at night — ■ 
also to fool the rats. He climbs up into his castle on a ladder 
and has a storeroom, as well as a living-room, but no windows, 
unfortunately, and pitch-pine fires make a lot of smoke. 

A wealthy man, who owns several rice fields and a number 
of pigs, sometimes has a carved wooden seat underneath his 
house. This is a tagabi and is a "sure sign" of luxury. There 
are a very few household . belongings. The women weave 
material for skirts, clouts and blankets, the big, black death- 
blanket, being an important feature. 

The Ifugaos, like several of the northern tribes, have a most 
unpleasant custom of keeping a dead person in state, while 
they hold a feast in his honor. They set the departed upright 
under his house, dressed in his best and draped in his death- 
blanket, while they eat up all his pigs and chickens. This goes 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



313 



on as long as the food supply holds out, the ghastly host some- 
times presiding for a week or more. 

We left Bontoc in the early morning and crossed the Polis 
Range at 6,400 feet, with magnificent views, before entering 
Ifugao. It was late in the afternoon when we sighted the con- 
stabulary post at Banaue. It occupies a splendid position at 
the head of a canyon, with terraced hillsides all about, and 
serves as a hotel for the very few travelers who visit this sec- 
tion of the world. 

The Philippine constabulary has made quite a record in its 
twelve years of life. It is a cross between a standing army and 
a police force, composed of 5,000 natives and officered by 300 
American college or military school graduates. These officers 
are mostly young men, thirty and under. On arriving in 
Manila they are sent up to Baguio to the constabulary school 
for several months. 

In many respects the constabulary is unique. The soldiers 
buy their food as they go through the country, seldom carrying 
rations with them. The officers have considerable freedom of 




NATIVE IFUGAO SOLDIERS IN BANAUE. 



314 



OUR COLONIES 



action, and, being responsible for order in their districts, act 
with the local officials in preventing trouble. In the mountain 
sections, especially on the frontiers, they are the "little fathers" 
of the community and the natives come to them with all their 
troubles. In Ifugao the big American chief, or Apo, must listen 
to every grievance, even to the tale of the neighbor who bor- 
rowed two fresh eggs and did not return them. 

The entire expense of this branch of the service comes out 
of the Philippine treasury. The officers have a good word to 
say for the native soldiers. They have been selected from 
every part of the Islands and, in case of trouble, there will be 
men in the service well acquainted with local conditions. This 
means much to the secret service department. 

The Ifugao and Bontoc constabulary soldiers are magnifi- 
cent specimens. Their costume is a compromise between 
civilized and savage dress — cap, coat, cartridge belt and clout, 
with spiral coils of brass wire about their calves, to give the 
picturesque touch. The officers in the hill posts have a special 




STONE SCHOOLHOUSE BUILT BY IFUGAOS. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



3i5 




BANAUE, A CONSTABULARY POST AMONG THE MOUNTAIN 
RICE TERRACES. 

costume, with a dash of something local to please the natives. 
Besides the post at Banaue, there is one on the frontier at 
Mayaoyao and a larger one at Quiangan, the provincial capital, 
with a full company of fifty soldiers and two officers. 

Quiangan is more pretentious than Banaue. There is the 
house of the Lieutenant-Governor, a Catholic mission, besides 
the constabulary post ; and a school building and Government 
House just being completed, which are the second wonder of 
Ifugao. The industrial school at Quiangan has certainly gone 
a long way in leading savages toward citizenship. The pupils 
have quarried the stone and erected two massive buildings 
which would be a credit in any land. They are tremendously 
proud of their work and well they may be. In their country 



316 



OUR COLONIES 



these buildings occupy about the relationship of the Capitol at 
Washington to the poorest shanty. 

In Ifugao we saw a native cahao, or dancing feast. Dan- 
cing is the leading diversion throughout the Philippines with 
the Christians as well as pagans. Among the civilized tribes 
these affairs are much the same as with us, but the dances of 
the wild man are of a very different variety. The Ifugaos 




A WEDDING IN IFUGAO. 

dance in a circle, first extending one arm and then the other, 
and do some skillful foot work. They keep it up continuously 
the whole night through, dropping out from exhaustion and 
then jumping in again as the spirits move them. The spirits 
have a material form in the shape of bubud in big Chinese jars. 
Bubud is a fairly mild alcoholic drink made from rice and 
the chiefs, young and old, guzzle it freely and consider it very 
bad form to leave a cahao, or feast, sober. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 317 

The musical instruments are brass gongs, called gansas, of 
Chinese origin, like the bubud jars. They are of various tones 
and their harsh "ding-ding-ding-o" stirs pulses and toes. The 
dance of the women differs from the men's. They keep their 
feet on the ground and move toes and fingers in a strange 
fashion. 

Long narrow strips of white paper, distributed among the 
dancers, are tied in the hair, a special insurance policy against 
some kind of a demon. Meanwhile the pig is being roasted, the 
main event of the evening, and feasting takes the place of dan- 
cing for a time. 

In spite of all this savagery, the 120,000 Ifugaos are not 
blood-thirsty creatures today. A few years ago it was a very 
different story. Then they made war on other wild tribes and 
lay in wait for the Christian Filipinos of the nearest plain. 

More than among any other primitive people, I noticed 
in them an appreciation of the fair treatment of the Americans. 
They are glad to have better trails. They rather like the idea 
of a "White Father" who speaks their language, as the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor does, to settle all disputes. They have found 
from the beginning of American rule that they will get "a 
square deal." 

I have spoken of the Ifugaos all through as savages, and I 
suppose they are. But when I think of their wonderful ter- 
races, climbing the steep slopes for thousands of feet, I feel 
that they can teach us a few things about ingenuity and in- 
dustry. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE HEAD-HUNTERS OF LUZON. 

SINCE the Americans came to the Philippines, head-hunting 
has been checked among most of the savages of northern 
Luzon. It still exists, however, among the Negritos of the 
northeast coast and a few other tribes. 

The Negritos, or "Little Negroes," are the original inhabi- 
tants of the Philippines. They have been killed off and driven 
into the mountains by the Malay tribes which came from south- 
ern Asia, and now number only about 25,000. The fiercest 
among them, and the only ones who hunt heads, live in an 




■•-.. 



/-say. 



NEGRITOS MAKING FIRE BY FRICTION. 

318 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



3i9 



almost unexplored territory where the Sierra Madre Mountains 
slope into the Pacific. Here they have not come in contact 
with the Christian Filipino or the white man. 

Each year, it is decreed, a Negrito family must take the 
head of an enemy, or sickness will come to the house. They 
chop off the heads with bolos and bury the bodies under their 
crude thatched shelters. Then they go away and build new 
homes, or the devil will catch them. 

I made the acquaintance of a somewhat less savage tribe of 
Negritos in the province of Bataan, which juts out into Manila 
Bay. It seems strange indeed that while people are giving 
"charity balls" and attending aviation meets in Manila, another 
race, just across the bay, lives as it did thousands of years ago. 

The Negritos are dwarfs in stature, with very dark brown, 
or black skin.- Their hair is woolly, like the African's, noses 
flat, lips thick, arms very long and apelike. Like people on the 
Dark Continent, they disfigure their bodies with scars, thinking 







UA>^ 



r*. 



A QUARTET OF NEGRITO MAIDENS. 



320 



OUR COLONIES 



it ornamental, and point their teeth sharply to further enhance 
their beauty. The men wear clouts, the women short skirts, 
and they are very fond of bright colors. They bring wild 
honey to the edge of the forest, to exchange for gaudy cloth. 

The Negrito is the bow and arrow artist of the Philippines. 
He uses a poisoned barb and is a fine marksman. He is a poor 




NEGRITO BOYS. ALL USE BOWS AND ARROWS. 



farmer, but can live on game and fish, with the forest products. 

These people belong to the same race as the Andaman 
Islanders and the Semang of the Malay Peninsula. They were 
probably widespread at one time — all over this quarter of the 
globe. In the Philippines they have intermarried with savage 
Malay tribes, and the only pure-blooded ones are found among 
the head-hunters of northern Luzon. 

In Spanish days slavery existed in these islands. Negrito 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



321 



children captured in the mountains and little Igorots from the 
forests of the north were brought down to the lowlands to 
spend their lives as servants. Spaniard and Christian Filipino 
offered the same defense. 

"We have baptized them," they said. "We have given them 
our own names. Their souls are saved !" 

This very matter of slavery has been the subject of a recent 




22 TYPES OF NEGRITOS, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



322 



OUR COLONIES 



controversy in the press between an American official and a 
Filipino politician. The American claims that slavery still 
exists in the Islands and there is little doubt but that he will 
prove his case. 

Next door to the Negritos of northern Luzon are the 
Ilongots who number only 6,000, but are "bad actors." A good 
many of them absolutely refuse to give up head-hunting until 




HEAD-HUNTER WITH SKULLS OF HIS VICTIMS. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 323 

they have "evened up" the count with a neighboring enemy. 
According to the official scorer, the other fellows are forty-six 
heads in the lead. 

The Ilongots are almost as primitive as the Negritos. They 
use the bow and arrow as well as the spear. Only about six 
years ago an American scientist was killed by them. Dr. 
Jones of the Field Museum, Chicago, ventured alone into the 
Ilongot territory. At first, according to his own report, found 
after his death, the savages were friendly and assisted him in 
collecting articles for the museum. Trouble came when two 
old men were pressed into service as boatmen when they 
wanted to remain at home. Then the sons of these men killed 
the Doctor. A force of the constabulary went in search of the 
murderers and captured them, but on the long journey to jail 
across forest and plain, two of the prisoners escaped. The 
guards, it seems, shot a deer and unfastened the handcuffs on 
the Ilongots that they might bring the game to the trail. Like 
a flash all three jumped into the underbrush and two got back 
to their own country. The man who was recaptured is serving 
out his sentence in Bontoc and I went to see him there. He 
did not look very fierce and was quite a young chap. 

Two constabulary expeditions have gone into the wilderness 
to bring out the men who escaped, but so far they have been 
unsuccessful. The Ilongots live in an almost inaccessible ter- 
ritory. Only a few of the tribe on the western frontier have 
made friends with the white man. The trail to the outlaws' 
village is among giant bowlders on the bed of a river, dry only 
a few months of the year. On the last trip, the constabulary 
found the village and burned it, but the people had fled. A 
messenger sent out to interview the chief brought back word 
that Dr. Jones met his death by violating Ilongot tribal laws, 
and that no penalty should be paid by his executioners. Now 
it is "up to" the constabulary to climb over the bowlders once 
more. 

The policy of the departing Secretary of the Interior has 
been based on fair play. He has been the Great Father and 
friend of the savages, spending much time among them, pre- 



324 OUR COLONIES 

serving their customs and respecting their traditions. But one 
fact he has impressed upon them — head-hunting must cease. 

Many of the tribes have given up the practice within the last 
ten years. Among those who have not yet been brought under 
control are the mountain Tinguians, who live in Apayao, and 
some of the Kalingas. The American Lieutenant-Governor of 
Kalinga has been able to form quite a lodge of "Friendly 
ex-Head-Hunters." 

On the Bontoc-Kalinga frontier, we camped one night in a 
little rest-house built of logs, high up on the mountain side. By 
a bonfire of snapping pines we listened to head-hunting tales 
from a constabulary officer who has lived for years in northern 
Luzon. I'll confess I looked over my shoulder, now and then, 
to see if any of them were sneaking up on me, for "the woods 
were full of 'em." 

"I was riding into the village of Magapta once, in Apayao," 
he said, "and on both sides of the trail were rows of bamboo 
baskets. At first I thought they held fruit, but when I looked 
in, I saw half a coconut shell in every blessed basket, each hold- 
ing a fragment of a human head ! The avenue was supposed 
to frighten evil spirits from the village. Those Apayaos are 
wicked ones. They set sharpened bamboo spears in the thicket 
and bordering the trail, and I was lame for months from one 
that caught me in the leg." 




THE MAN WHO LOST HIS HEAD. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



325 




Head-hunting festivities seem 
to be most elaborate. The victors 
are received with shouts of joy as 
they inarch into the home village. 
The heads of the victims are cut 
into pieces and distributed among 
the party. Of course the man who 
really chopped of! the head gets the 
skull and hangs it over his door 
with the skulls of carabaos and pigs 
killed for feasts. A cahao is held, 
a dancing and drinking festival, 
and some of these events are very 
wild affairs. 

"Oh! they don't bother white 
men," my bonfire host told me. 
"They're after other savages to 
even up old scores. The one family 
disgrace is to have a kinsman lose 
his head. It shows that the other 
fellow was more skillful with the 

ax. If a chap is so unfortunate as to lose his head, there's 
no burial feast for him. He can't sit in state under the house, 
looking on at his own funeral. They just stick him in the 
ground in some lonely spot and the less said about him the 
better." 

Up to a few years ago, each wild tribe of northern Luzon 
kept within its own territory unless on a head-hunting raid. A 
mountain or a river marked the spot where an invisible danger 
sign was posted. The Ifugao hated the Kalinga and Bontoc 
Igorot on the north, the timid Benguet on the west, and even 
made murderous expeditions down to the lowlands to the east 
and south where Christian Filipinos live. One day I met forty 
Ifugaos marching up the hillside, spear in hand, in the land of 
the enemy. It looked for all the world as though they were up 
to their old tricks, and I turned around to see how my Bontoc 
baggage boys took it. They did not seem at all concerned and I 



YOUNG IFUGAO WARRIORS 



326 



OUR COLONIES 



soon learned, from a paper the 
Ifugao chief carried, that the war- 
like troupe was bound for Baguio 
to work on the new railroad. This 
little incident told the whole story. 
A head-hunter laying railway 
ties ! A savage turned to the ways 
of peace and industry. The Span- 
iards did not accomplish this in 333 
years of rule. The Spanish Chris- 
tianized Filipinos are far from fit- 
ted to continue the splendid work 
of the Americans. 

To me this is one of the most 
serious problems confronting Phil- 
ippine independence. The only 
Christians among Oriental peoples, 
the Filipinos look with scorn on the 
pagan tribes. More than this, they 
fear "the man with the spear" as 
they do the devil. In return, the 
strong, primitive men of the high- 
lands and the forests detest the 
Christian Filipinos of the lowlands who have followed the pol- 
icy of their Spanish masters. This was not the policy of "the 
helping hand." 

The Americans have not said : "Wear clothes and become 
Christians, or we will make war on you. Give up your customs 
and traditions." 

They have said, instead : "Come, be good fellows. We'll 
teach you all sorts of fine sports if you'll stop taking the lives 
and heads of your fellows." 

The tug-of-war and the greased pole have found their way 
into northern Luzon. Baseball and the wrestling bout help to 
let off steam among men who have animal spirits to spare. 
Work is woven with play and industrial schools are doing their 
part in the civilizing of the Wild Tribes. 




IGOROT BRIDE AND GROOM, AGED 
TWELVE AND FOURTEEN. 



Longitude West from 175" Greenwich 




MANILA BAY 

Scone of Naval Battle May 1, 189S 
Scale 



v£ <y '-fib? V Z*. y ^\ *■' \>-4amar i. 

,o> \?'- K^S Capiz . ^ ^ t^Catbalogan 




*T BRITIS 
iP — ? ORTH - 3! ^fi>^ 

- ORNEO ^^ | | r 



Longitude East from Grecniuich 



Revised, iqio 



-J-^ilinn^t from m" Greenwich 



OcKiX (Cow) L 

..: GAMBIA Ba*K 

Hidvtai Is. | ....; Pearl 




Copyright, rgoj. by Rand. McNally &■ Company 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

WHERE EVERYBODY SMOKES. 

CAGAYAN was about the first name I memorized in the 
Philippines. At the Manila Club the night of our arrival, 
I was given a cigar with its end twisted into a "pigtail." 

"You'll like it," said my host, "no paste used in its making. 
Leaf best in the Islands. Grown up in the Cagayan Valley." 

It was good and, as it gradually turned to ash, I repeated the 
name of its birthplace.* Later we learned more of this valley 
and, at last, a visit brought us into close acquaintanceship with 
the peculiarly fertile strip of earth. 

While tobacco is grown in virtually every province of the 
Philippines, no one disputes that all the high-grade leaf comes 
from a very limited area, the famous Cagayan tobacco wlley. 
The original Negritos didn't have anything to smoke. The 
Malays, who followed, were content with chewing the betel. 
It remained for the Spanish friars to introduce tobacco from 
Mexico, soon after they landed on these shores. From the 
Philippines it spread into China, where its use was so general 
at one time that its sale was prohibited under penalty of death. 

In 1 78 1 the Spanish Government made the sale of Luzon 
tobacco a state monopoly, and this condition lasted for a cen- 
tury. The very best land was selected and each family forced 
to set out 4,000 plants each year, or pay a fine. Every leaf had 
to be turned over to the Government, not one could be reserved 
for home consumption. When the crop was all in, the best 
quality was laid aside and all the rest burned — not in the form 
of cigars or cigarettes, but in a good old-fashioned bonfire. As 
the Government paid only for leaves which escaped the bonfire, 
the poor farmer was encouraged to improve the quality of his 

*Note: — I now have sent to me to Chicago each month 100 of 
these cigars, by Walter E. Olsen, a former Chicago boy, now a suc- 
cessful tobacco manufacturer's agent in Manila, and my friends de- 
clare them "fine." Personally I prefer them to Havana cigars. 

2>27 



328 



OUR COLONIES 



leaf. The Government ran the price up to one dollar gold a 
pound, so it is little wonder that a "Manila smoke" was held in 
high esteem in the Orient. The Spaniards gave the farmers 
only a small fraction of this price, so tobacco money paid half 
the total expenses of the colonial Government. Good business, 
but rather hard on the poor tao, toiling away up in the Cagayan 
Valley! 

This all goes to show the advantage of being established 
early in the game. Today Manila cigars have first call in 
Japan, China and India. The Spanish mail line which has 




CIGAR SMOKING IN THE CAGAYAN VALLEY. 






THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 329 

monthly service between Cadiz and Manila, via Suez, loads up 
with tobacco on the home voyage. 

Not all of the tobacco raised in these Islands gets away, 
however. To see the people smoking, you would think every 
leaf stayed at home ! The cigarette consumption is 500 a year 
for every man, woman and child, and no record is kept of the 
cigars, made at home by the smokers out of masses of tobacco 
grown in the back yards. 

Everywhere in the country I was impressed with the 
fact that tobacco is a necessity, rather than a luxury, to the 
Filipino. The merest infants have the habit. When the baby 
cries, the busy mother doesn't look about for a rubber nipple. 
She sticks a big cigar into the baby's mouth and goes on with 
her weaving. Children of five puff away at cigars as big as 
candles and strong enough to knock a man down. 

In the Cagayan Valley the family saves lost motion by 
making cigars about a yard long and two inches in diameter. 
These are fitted into metal sleeves and suspended from the 
ceiling by a cord. Father, mother and children all take a puff, 
as they pass by, and the baby is held up for his turn. 

If the Spaniards deprived the natives of tobacco for one 
hundred and one years, they have certainly caught up. They 
all keep at it pretty steadily now, excepting when they are 
sleeping. 

This magic valley, producing practically all the export 
tobacco and nine-tenths of the factory-made tobacco consumed 
in the Islands, is in northern Luzon. The headwaters of the 
Cagayan River are in the isolated province of Nueva Vizcaya, 
on the eastern side of the Cordillera. From the mountain 
slopes, the. streams flow through green meadows and dark 
forests into narrow canyons, flanked by the purple peaks of the 
Pacific Coast range. A third of the way down its course, the 
main stream emerges into a valley, about forty miles in width, 
and flows to its mouth, in the extreme north, through the pro- 
vinces of Isabela and Cagayan. 

But why, you ask, is this a magic valley, richer than all 
others in the Philippines? Just because Mother Nature does 



33Q 



OUR COLONIES 




A SCENE IN APARRI, THE GREAT TOBACCO PORT, NORTHERN COAST OF LUZON. 

the fertilizing. Every season, like clockwork, about the 
fifteenth of December, the bottom lands of the valley are 
flooded. The strong winds from the China Sea, known here 
as the monsoon, hold the river back. For ten days the valley 
looks like a lake. Then the waters subside, leaving a rich 
coating on the overflowed land. It is a Heaven-favored valley, 
like the Nile. Men out here call it "The Valley with a 
Future," for its agricultural possibilities, other than tobacco 
culture, are great. 

A number of companies have bought up tobacco properties. 
One American and two German companies are in the field 
besides the big Spanish "Tabacalera," organized in 1883. The 
bulk of the land, however, is owned by natives. In Cagayan 
Province there are 25,000 property holders out of 150,000 
inhabitants, so, allowing six to a family, every man owns a 
piece of land. The same condition exists in Isabela Province, 
where the richest land lies. 

The best grade of tobacco cannot be grown near the sea, 
so the estates begin about twenty-five miles up river. All the 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



331 



crop comes down stream to the town of Aparri, at the river's 
mouth, from where it is shipped to Manila. The Tabacalera 
Company has a fleet of a dozen steamers operating between 
Manila and tobacco ports, and the most of them are kept busy 
with the Aparri trade. The head of this concern owns the 
Spanish Steamship Company, operating in all parts of the 
world, with a line between Manila and New York, via Spain. 

When the tariff bars between the Philippines and the United 
States were let down, millions of poor cigars flooded the 
market. Exporters soon saw that the goose which lays the 
golden egg was being killed and a better grade of cigars now 
reaches our shores. We even get the best Cagayan variety. 
The orders have gone beyond the capacity of the giant factories 
in Manila. 

No longer can an American say, as he puffs away at a 
Philippine cigar: "Well, this certainly is made of Manila 
rope !" 

We spent some time in the sparsely populated section 
known as Nueva Vizcaya, watered by the headstreams of the 
Cagayan. Many of the inhabitants, like those in the great 




SCHOOL CHILDREN OF NUEVA VIZCAYA PROVINCE. 



332 



OUR COLONIES 



tobacco valley, are emigrants from the densely populated Ilocos 
provinces on the west coast. 

These Ilocanos are noted for their industry. The little 
towns in their adopted province are models of neatness. As I 
rode through every native was at work in the rice fields. 

Rice to the Filipino is what bread is to the American. Yet 
with all the miles of rice we saw waving here there is not 
enough for home consumption. Every year shiploads of rice 
come to the Philippines from French Indo-China, just across 
the sea. This condition should be remedied. There is much 
good rice land idle. 

The washerwoman makes starch from rice and poor women, 
who cannot afford soap, beat the ashes of rice straw into a 
foam. Most of the washing is done in the streams which 
border the highway. A boy visiting the Philippines for the 
first time wrote his mother in Chicago soon after his arrival : 

"I saw the most surprising thing the other day. I was 
riding along the road and down in a stream below was a woman 
breaking rocks with a shirt !" 

This is the land of the bamboo and the forest vine. With 




HIGH SCHOOL IN BAYOMBONG, PROVINCE OF NUEVA VIZCAYA. 



334 



OUR COLONIES 



these and the palm the native builds everything he needs, from 
a home to a raft. The great climbing vine is his rope and cord, 
away from the hemp districts. He even uses vines in place of 
nails. This giant vine split is the rattan of commerce. I saw 
it used for a cable in Nueva Vizcaya, a strong rope-like line 
over 200 feet in length. It often grows to a length of 500 and 
600 feet here. This rattan canes the beds and chairs of the 
Filipinos, ties their packages, forms their clotheslines and is 
put to varied use. One day I looked up at a bamboo platform, 
extending from a cottage door, where two babies were tied by 
their ankles to a post with rattan cords, safe from a bad fall to 
the carabao stable below, while the mother went on with her 
cooking. This is just the way she stakes out her chickens and 
pigs. 

Bamboo is still the water pail of the Malays. Sections five 
or six inches in diameter are used for bringing water from the 
streams, and forty- foot lengths convey it to the house from the 




RATTAN, ONE OF THE MOST USEFUL OF THE ISLAND PRODUCTS. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 335 

well. Bamboo musical instruments are in use here. I saw a 
whole band equipped with bamboo horns in a remote village, 
and the strange part of it was that the music wasn't bad ! 

Any little barrio in the Islands can shake up at least one 
band. Often, as the sweet strains of Spanish melodies have 
reached me, I have said : "Music is their best inheritance from 
their conquerors." 

To reach Nueva Vizcaya from Manila means a long saddle 
journey from the end of the railroad. To go on to the Cagayan 
Valley one cannot follow the upper river of the Cagayan, 
excepting in a canoe, and even then with great difficulty. The 
trail lies across the pasture lands of Nueva Vizcaya, rich cattle 
ranges of the future, to Echague in Isabela Province, from 
where the Cagayan River is navigable. The easier way to the 
tobacco country is by steamer from Manila to Aparri in two 
and one-half days and up the river by launch to the towns of 
Tuguegarao and Ilagan. There are more Spaniards left here 
than in any other part of the Islands, for the tobacco business 
is still virtually in their hands. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

MAKING CONVICTS INTO MEN. 

UNCLE SAM deserves a big gold medal for his prison sys- 
tem in the Philippines, which ranks among the great 
missionary efforts of the world. "Success" should be stamped 
on one side of the medal with a big "S" ; "For Bravery" in high 
relief on the other side. It required courage of no mean order 
to bring this system into being, and the "daring experiment," 
as other nations termed it, has proved an unqualified success, in 
spite of dire predictions. The world's progress has gained 
more from intelligent experiments than from accidental dis- 
coveries. Away off here, on the other side of the world, 
Americans have patiently worked out a new penal method, step 
by step, recasting criminals into citizens, making the skulking 
convict into the industrious man. 

How was it done ? you ask. 

You have read of the Walled City of Manila, with its 
age-scarred gates, narrow streets and fine old churches, but 
my story begins in a smaller walled city there, built also by the 
Spaniards — Bilibid Prison — which came into our possession in 
1898. I have heard that the soldiers had to use smelling salts 
to get within gunshot of the place in those days. The United 
States army gave the prison a first-class cleaning and turned it 
over to the civil Government in 1901. From that date real his- 
tory in Bilibid has been made. 

My interview with Mr. M. L. Stewart, director of prisons, 
was most interesting. 

"How long have you been engaged in the work here?" I 
asked. 

"Nine years, the last three as director." 

"What is there about the prison that is unusual?" (I had 

336 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



337 



touched the button this time, and the human dynamo paced the 
floor of his office, powerful, vital — his very soul in the work.) 

"There is no other prison like it under the Stars and Stripes. 
We have no cells here, no stripes of disgrace, unless the pris- 
oner earns them. There is right of free speech for all. We 
teach them self-respect and tell them that they can go out better 
men, useful citizens. 

"Regular hours, nourishing food, proper exercise in the 
open air and stated hours of work transform them physically. 
The system of mental development does the rest. No punish- 
ment is ever inflicted until there has been a fair trial before 
one of the high officials, the prisoner producing his own wit- 
nesses and speaking in his own behalf. The verdict must then 
have my personal 'O. K.' 

"Of all the prisoners discharged during the last five years, 
only two have returned for a second term. A man who has 




23 



CONVICT MAKING A RATTAN CHAIR. 



338 



OUR COLONIES 



his discharge from Bilibid can go down town and get a job 
without an hour's delay. He is a trained workman and a new 
man physically and morally. But, come, let's look the place 
over." 

We passed through the gates, which slid open at our 
approach, and entered the great industrial departments which 
cover most of the twenty acres within the walls. 

"When a man enters the prison he is put in quarantine." 
said the director. "He is freed of intestinal parasites, which 
are the curse of tropical countries, and cleaned up thoroughly 
before he can associate with the others. Then he is placed in 
the 'awkward squad' for a month and drilled. This over, he 
selects his trade. He can be a wheelwright, machinist, 




GENERAL VIEW OF 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



339 



blacksmith, carriage maker, carriage painter, sign painter, shoe- 
maker, tinsmith, tailor, cabinet maker, carpenter, mason, silver- 
smith, laundryman, cook, baker, school teacher, hospital nurse, 
or a musician, for we have a band here. In the shops the men 
are treated just as they would be in first-class factories in the 
States. After work hours, their lives are like the soldiers' in 
the barracks. They work seven and one-half hours a day and 
spend their free time as they see fit, with no guard nearer than 
the prison walls. There are 225 prisoners in each dormitory." 

I asked if there was a school, since this seemed an alto- 
gether new-fangled prison. 

"School? Yes. They attend class an hour each day and 
the teachers are prisoners. They teach in English. We have 




BILIBID PRISON, MANILA. 



34Q 



OUR COLONIES 



men and women from eighteen different tribes here and they 
can't talk to one another unless they use English. In the shops 
we use English altogether." 

As we went from shop to shop, I saw that this was "Spotless 
Town" and the men looked as clean as their surroundings. 

"When a man enters he is placed in the lowest convict 
class," said my guide. "In six months he moves to second 




BILIBID PRISONERS MAKING HEMP ROPE, MANILA. 



grade if he has 80 per cent of marks to his credit. Six months 
more, and 90 per cent will push him into the first class, with 
special privileges. Over 90 per cent of all the prisoners are in 
the first class. First and second class men wear blue. Only 
the backsliders wear stripes." 

We went into the rooms where the product of the prison is 
on sale. There were silver articles made from old Spanish and 
Filipino coins ; baskets, tables and chairs woven from sea-grass, 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 341 

bamboo and rattan. The chairs were especially attractive. 

"We send the big one known as the 'Bilibid chair' all over 
the world. It's the best known article we make. Sixty dollars 
gold for an office desk," pointing to one in the beautiful Philip- 
pine hardwood, "and we can't supply the demand. Carriages 
and wagons? Yes, we make all kinds. Any poor farmer can 
have a pair of wheels, paying for them by working on the roads. 
We're trying to save the roads." 

Canes and swagger sticks are listed in the sales catalogue, 
and they make special swagger sticks, which are very British, 
"dontcher know," for the United States Marine Corps, the 
Order of Carabao, etc. 

Prisoners receiving sentences of five years or more are sent 
to Bilibid. The women make lace, embroider, and assist in the 
splendid hospital, erected entirely by convict labor. 

"Four-thirty ! Time for retreat !" said Mr. Stewart. 

We climbed to a tower in the center of the grounds, repre- 
senting the hub of a wheel. From it the dormitories radiate 
like spokes to the great circular wall which forms the tire. 

All at once the band trumpeted out the call and the triangular 
yards, separating the dormitories, sprang to life. Three thou- 
sand men lined up like soldiers on parade. A silence, a signal ! 
Then each prisoner removed his hat, brought it down to his 
right side, then up and across to his heart, as the sweet and 
inspiring strains of the "Star Spangled Banner" filled the air 
and the flag over the tower was slowly lowered. There was a 
lump in my throat. This salute from thousands of men of an 
alien race, deprived of liberty, to the glorious banner which 
stands for freedom and justice and equality must pull at every 
man's heart-strings. 

After a rhythmical drill the men marched to the kitchen 
door with their dinner pails, and in seven minutes every man 
had received his portion and marched on with it to his 
dormitory. 

While Bilibid is the penitentiary of the Islands, there are 
many provincial prisons, thirty-four in all, caring for 2,500 
short-term convicts. At Bontoc in the Mountain Province there 



34^ 



OUR COLONIES 



is a prison for the Wild Tribes and one for the Moros at Zam- 
boanga on the island of Mindanao. Here, as at Bilibid, the 
opportunity for an industrial education is eagerly embraced. 

So far my story has been of prison and prisoners under the 
shadow of the walls, within range of the guns of the guards. 
Now we'll shift the scene for the strong third act, the act that 
many predicted would end in a bloody tragedy. 

As the curtain rises, we see a tropic isle, Palawan, 370 miles 
southwest of Manila. This island is isolated from the others 
of the Philippine group, lying nearer the China coast. 

When the plan for establishing a unique colony for Bilibid 
prisoners on Palawan was brought to the Governor-General, 
he looked it over doubtfully. The best conduct men were to 
be moved to the island and a town founded, which they were 
to rule themselves. They were to elect their judges, select 
their jurors, and appoint their policemen. They were to be 
without guard. 

"When I looked over the list of crimes committed by the 
prisoners chosen to start a colony, I was a bit staggered," said 
the ex-Governor-General, James Smith, now living in Wash- 
ington, D. C. But the plan was started and the American 
prison assistant's wife bravely went with him to Palawan. 

Today the Iwahig colony, across the bay from the town of 




GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AT PENAL COLONY, ISLAND OF PALAWAN. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 343 

Puerto Princessa in Palawan, has 1,200 prisoners, and there is 
not a firearm on the place. There is a reservation of forty 
square miles. Here the original twenty-five convict colonists 
hewed their homes from the wilderness. As this most daring 
experiment showed symptoms of success, more credit men were 
sent down from Bilibid. They were taught agriculture in 
many branches — all about cattle raising. 

In 1914 there isn't a town in the Philippines that can com- 
pare with Iwahig for law-abiding citizens, for honesty, or for 
sanitary conditions. The spotlight on this scene is "The 
Helping Hand." 

After a six months' trial, the prisoner is given five acres of 
land which he may improve after working hours and on holi- 
days. If he makes good, the Government steps in and helps 
him, loans him money for farming implements and for a home 
with furnishings. This loan he will repay out of the products 
of the farm. If he is married, the Government brings his 
family from any part of the Philippines and takes care of the 
wife and children until the farmer can care for them. When 
a man's sentence expires he can leave Palawan or remain in 
the colony. Over eighty families have remained. Iwahig has 
its own currency, its cooperative stores, its baseball league. 

Since the success of the work is now proved, the town is to 
be moved to a better site on higher ground, well away from 
floods. It is to be a larger town with a civic center, parade 
and athletic grounds, a theater, library, schools and churches. 
All the buildings will be erected by the colonists and 1,000,000 
bricks have already been burned. Palawan is out of the earth- 
quake belt, so brick buildings are practicable. 

At Iwahig Uncle Sam has brought criminals through 
imprisonment into the glorious light of day. He has made 
convicts into men. And which is the better method? The old 
one of opening the prison doors to men broken in health, for- 
ever lacking self-respect, branded as convicts ? Or this last word 
in humane treatment to our weaker brothers, this evolution 
into industrious, upright citizens? Do you think the Filipino 
would continue this work? I don't. 



A 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

COASTING THE VISAYAN ISLANDS. 
LL aboard for the Visayas ! Manila may be the capital of 
Philippines and Luzon the largest island, but forty-six 
per cent of all the Filipinos live on the islands known as the 
Visayas, halfway down the archipelago. 

Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Samar are the big 
ones of the group, surrounded by innumerable islands and 
islets. Here live the Visayan people, speaking one language — 
if you allow for differences of dialect. Here are the best sugar 
lands and some of the best hemp lands in the Philippines. 
Here are the busy cities of Cebu and Iloilo, rivals for second 
place after Manila. 

Iloilo is our first port, 300 miles southeast of Manila Bay, 
on the island of Panay. Summer seas, this voyage ! It is like 
sailing on a lake. Yet within a few weeks, or even days, this 
coast may be lashed by the typhoon's fury. 

Iloilo looks flat and uninteresting from the sea, but we have 
two days in port, while the ship loads sugar, so there is time 
for a more favorable impression. 

"You pay one centavo a minute for your rig," said the 
captain. This is equal to one-half cent in the States. On the 
waterfront was a vehicle which looked like a diminutive omni- 
bus. It was drawn by an ox. 

"What do you call this sort of a carriage?" I inquired of a 
fellow passenger. 

"We call it a tartanilla down here," he said. "Up in 
Manila there are a few of 'em left from Noah's Ark, and they 
call 'em the quilez. You can't fall out, but you're always slid- 
ing backward. Don't take the ox-cart. Here comes one with 
a pony." 

The pony-cart was about half the size of the tartanilla, but 

344 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



345 



I got in. My photographer was losing weight in the Philip- 
pines, so he managed to squeeze in, too, with his camera and 
glass plates. Films are not serviceable in this hot, moist 
climate. 

Off we rattled to the main street, where there are first-class 
shops, among them a book and drug store combined, with a 
big soda-water fountain. While the photographer was putting 
away three ice cream sodas I asked the druggist how many 
people there were in town. 

"Over 40,000 — I should say nearer 45,000. There are 350 
white folks and 150 of us are Americans. Panay is a rich 
island. Sugar? Yes, and hemp. Coconuts, of course. Then 
this is the chief market for the fine native cloths — jusi and pina. 
There aren't regular factories, but just drive out any country 
road and you'll see the women at work. At the window of 
every little 'straw' house there's a Filipina busy at her loom." 

As we drove past the main plaza I saw the usual monument 
in the center and asked an American soldier, standing by the 
curb, whose statue it was. 

"It 's Josie Rizzel, sir," he answered, and it didn't dawn 





THE OLD TOWER IN JARO, A VILLAGE IN ILOILO. 



346 OUR COLONIES 

upon me until some time later that he meant Jose Rizal. Our 
enlisted men are not much on Spanish pronunciation. 

The patriot of Luzon, then, is beloved throughout the Phil- 
ippines. As a rule the Visayan has very little use for the 
Tagalog. In this division of interests lies the stumbling block 
to the unity of the Filipino people. 

A well-paved road connects Iloilo with the suburb of Jaro, 
where we went. Passing a hoary bell tower in the plaza and 
other marks of early Spanish rule, we came to the market 
gate. Here many carabaos and oxen drowsed under a shelter 
after hard toil in country roads. Clumsy carts, covered with 
straw awnings, lined the highway. In one of them sat a girl 
weaving a hat from a fine grade of Manila hemp. 

In hundreds of little booths the produce and wares of Panay 
were displayed, everything from the finest pina cloth to the 
coarsest basket. Here was a dainty American woman, dressed 
in white, bargaining, in broken Spanish, for a flimsy piece of 
jusi; there a dark-eyed Mestiza examining a long row of tor- 
toise-shell combs. The Mestiza was evidently of Spanish- 
Filipino blood with a dash of Chinese. She wore the native 
costume of the Filipina, but had slippers and stockings instead 
of the floppy chinelas and bare ankles. Through the whole 
market was the odor of coconut oil from the women's heads 
and the even more pungent odor of ilang-ilang, the popular 
perfume made from the native blossom. 

From one booth hung Manila hemp like strands of golden 
floss ; in the next sat a wrinkled old witch chewing the betel — 
a seller of lamps, which were heaped on the ground in front 
of her. The lamps were simply old bottles of every size and 
variety, fitted with wicks and tin stoppers. These, filled with 
coconut oil and sometimes with kerosene, illuminate the homes 
of the masses. 

"Well, I thought a Visayan would look altogether different 
from a Talalog of Manila," said my companion. I confessed 
that I could not see a marked difference. 

"I think they do look a little more like pure Malays," he 
added. "There isn't so much Spanish blood down here." 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



347 




A PRETTY WEAVER. 



"No, there isn't so much 
of the white blood away 
from Luzon," I answered, 
"but there is Chinese blood 
in all these ports and a 
good deal of it, too. If we 
want to see the Malay pure 
and simple, we must go 
back from the coast." 

From Jaro we drove to 
other villages in the out- 
skirts of Iloilo. At Are- 
valo, Legaspi's men are 
supposed to have landed in 
1569. We saw several fine 
churches of great antiquity. 

As the druggist had said, 
the weavers were at work 
at every cottage window. 
The looms looked very crude and I was pleased to learn later 
that a new type of loom, necessitating far less labor, has 
recently been invented by an American industrial teacher in 
the Islands. 

There is a splendid trade school in Iloilo. To me the indus- 
trial schools are of prime importance throughout the Philip- 
pines. The girls, especially, eagerly embrace every opportunity 
to learn domestic science and make excellent nurses in the 
hospitals. It is harder to interest the boys in trades and in 
agriculture. Here, as in Luzon, they want to be doctors or 
lawyers, and the brightest dream of being politicians. The 
educating of women of the middle and lower class is new since 
the American regime. Under the Spaniards the upper-class 
girls alone received a convent education. Every girl we gradu- 
ate now, from the school or the hospital, will make a better 
mother for a new type of Filipino. 

There is some interesting old American history in Iloilo. 
Away back in the } yo"s there was a live American firm here--- 



348 



OUR COLONIES 







pp 


• ■ 


'"---•• 








- 



TRADE SCHOOL, ILOILO, ISLAND OF PANAY. 

Russell & Sturgis. In those days sailing vessels carried on a 
trade between New York and Iloilo. In the cemetery I came 
across the vine-covered grave of an American named Haines, 
from Massachusetts, who worked and died here in '64. In 
those days Iloilo could not have been a very sanitary place to 
live in. Even now it needs better sewerage. There are elec- 
tric lights, telephones, ice plants, and best of all, good artesian 
water has just been located in the heart of the town. 

On the waterfront there is much activity. Iloilo has direct 
shipping connections with Europe, the Straits Settlements, 
China, Japan and Australia, and there are many boats sailing to 
other parts of the archipelago, including regular service with 
Manila and Cebu. The fleet of little sailing boats in the harbor 
brings sugar, coconuts and hemp from other ports in Panay 
and from the neighboring island of Negros. 

An American railroad crosses Panay from Iloilo to Capiz 
on the north coast. Iloilo harbor is protected by the island of 
Guimaras, where the United States army had a post until 
recently. 

"Guimaras was the island setting in that popular light opera 
'Floradora,' " said an American customs official on the ship, as 
we sailed away. I said I had seen "Floradora," but confessed 
that the tropic isle of the story seemed rather off the earth to 
me "at that writing." 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



349 



"Guimaras is a great place for picnics," said a man who 
hailed from Ilcilo. "Picnics, sea-bathing and motion-picture 
shows are our leading diversions." 

The island of Negros, across the strait from Panay, is 
divided into two provinces — Occidental and Oriental Negros. 
We made for a port on the northeast coast, where Honolulu 
capitalists have erected a fine modern sugar mill, grinding cane 
from many native plantations. The Filipinos find that they 
can get more sugar by turning their cane over to the "central" 
and the capitalists have made money out of the investment. 
On the island of Mindoro the Havemeyer Corporation has 
invested $3,000,000 in a sugar plantation with no profit as yet. 

Negros has the richest sugar land in the Philippines and 
among the richest in the world. Since time immemorial wild 
cane has been growing here, and for over a century sugar has 
been exported. It now ranks as the third export of the 
Philippines. 

Until modern machinery arrived on the scene, the method 
of sugar-making was very crude and in many localities it is 
still made in the most antiquated way. The cane juice is con- 
centrated in shallow iron vessels, placed over a fire until it 




TYPICAL CANE-MILL OF THE NATIVES. 



35o 



OUR COLONIES 




crystallizes into sugar. 
Then it is packed in 
palm-leaf bags tied with 
rattan. This is called 
"mat sugar." 

Another old method, 
borrowed from the Chi- 
nese, consists of boiling 
the cane juice down to a 
heavy mass which is 
poured into big earthen- 
ware jars called pilous. 
The pilon has a hole in 
the bottom, like a flower 
pot, through which the 
molasses drips. 

The Payne tariff bill 
started the sugar plant- 
er of the Visayas on the 
up hill. He was able to 

pay his debts and higher wages with the increased price of 
sugar, and to import many carabaos. In facing the matter of 
free sugar — freight is expensive from here to the world's 
great markets ; on the other hand, labor is cheap and much 
cane is grown without fertilization. 

In coasting the Visayas, the traveler's attention is often 
called to watch-towers on the shores, reminders of those tur- 
bulent years when piratical Moro fleets infested these waters. 
The bloodthirsty Mohammedans swooped down on the peaceful 
Visayans, carrying them off to slavery in Mindanao and Jolo. 

Sailing in a roundabout way from the island of Negros to 
Cebu, we passed Leyte and Samar to the east, with little Mas- 
bate to the north. All these islands are rich agriculturally. 

And now we come to Cebu, second city of the Philippines 
on the island of the same name. Cebu is the oldest European 
settlement in the Islands — the place where Magellan landed. 



A TYPICAL FISHERMAN, VISAYANS. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



WHER^ MAGELLAN WAS KILLED. 
uTF YOU are really my friend," said the Rajah of Cebu to 
1 Ferdinand Magellan, "prove it. Sail across the strait 
with me and help me lick those Mactans. They've been caus- 
ing me no end of trouble for years." 

"All right!" said Magellan. What was a primitive tribal 
war to him who had crossed two oceans and discovered new 
lands? Over to Mactan with the Rajah he sailed — to be killed 
by the spear of a savage. 

All this happened 393 years ago. Before that unlucky day, 
April 27, 1 52 1, Magellan built a fortification in Sugbu (the 
native name for the town now known as Cebu) and converted 
the Rajah and his wife to Christianity. To the first lady in the 
land he presented a little wooden image, which he had carried 
with him on all his perilous voyages. Forty years later, after 
the landing of Legaspi from Mexico, this image was recovered, 
and today the sacristan of the old Augustinian Church will 
show you the "Holy Child of Cebu," attired in silken robes and 
ornamented with precious stones, quite 
the most sacred relic in the Islands. 

There are many reminders of the 
earliest Spanish days in Cebu. Calle 
Colon, with its tiles and arcades, is the 
oldest street in the Philippines. Many 
of the churches, convents and walls hark 
back to those romantic days when Euro- 
peans first reached these shores. In a 
little chapel on the plaza the traveler can 
gaze, through barred windows, on a 
great wooden cross. This, we are told, 
is hollow and within it is a similar cross, 




HOLY CHILD OF 
CEBU/' 



351 



352 



OUR COLONIES 




AUGUSTINIAN CHURCH, CEBU, CONTAINING THE HOLY CHILD 
OF CEBU." 




BUILDING IN CEBU CONTAINING THE ORIGINAL CROSS THAT 

MARKS THE SPOT WHERE MAGELLAN CELEBRATED 

THE FIRST MASS ON THE ISLAND, 1 52 1. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



353 



marking the spot where Magellan and 
his followers gathered for their first 
mass on the island. Cebu was not their 
first landing place in the Philippines, as 
some writers claim. On the way here 
they landed on an island to the south, 
where they celebrated mass. 

On the site of Magellan's fortifica- 
tion stands the time-worn triangular 
Fort San Pedro, one of the best pre- 
served Spanish landmarks I have seen 
in the Islands. 

In Cebu the old and the new are 
blended in a bewildering fashion. A 
modern concrete warehouse jostles a 
hoary vine-hung old convent ; a big 
steamship from Manila docks beside a 
native's bamboo banca; a noisy automo- 
bile tears past a wooden-wheeled car- 
abao cart. All is life and bustle here, 
in the second city of the Philippines, 
where the people are more concerned 
with the shipment of hemp, copra and 
sugar than with the historic associations 
which encircle their town and island. 

They are all Visayans here, of 
course, with the exception of the Chi- 
nese colony and a few hundred white 
people — British, German and American 
— 75,ooo in all. The Chinese are the 
merchants in the small shops and ship- 
pers of importance. All are married to 
Visayan women and many are good 
Catholics. Unlike the Jap, the China- 
man in these Islands rears his chil- 
dren to be loyal Filipinos. Some of 

the names are a little startling- to the 
24 & 




354 



OUR COLONIES 







- » „ ~r * J r . - 


$&4k K^jiiJttiiltti 


- r- ' 









CEBU, ISLAND OF CEBU, OLDEST SPANISH CITY IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

stranger's ears — Superior Taling-Ting; Concepcion Ah-Fing; 
Roberto Ho-Lung, etc. There seems, however, to be some 
love for the motherland across the China Sea, for a short 
time ago, when the new President of China was inaugurated, 
the multi-colored flag of the new republic waved on every street 
in Cebu. The Chinese here do not speak English, but know 
Spanish and Visayan quite as well as their own tongue. 

I was surprised to find so little English spoken among the 
Visayans. The great bulk of the people speak only their native 
tongue. Some of the older men and women know a little 
Spanish. At the two motion-picture theaters the titles to the 
films are first in English, then in Spanish. The disappointing 




A TYPICAL STREET IN CEBU. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



355 



part of it is the children's not knowing English. After our 
sixteen years of toil over here, I expected that every youngster 
would be able to carry on a conversation in "the language of the 
flag." I asked an American teacher in Cebu about it and he 
said : 

"Yes, I know the children on this island are backward, in 
spite of Cebu being the second city of commercial importance. 
This part of the country was very unsettled when the Ameri- 




CALLE COLON, CEBU, THE OLDEST STREET IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

cans came over. There were a lot of lawless people at large 
and the schools, out of town, have only just gotten a start. I 
think, anyway, that the Visayans are more primitive than the 
Tagalogs or Bicols up in Luzon. I've worked with them all. 
Still, these Visayans are more faithful. They make the best 
servants in the Islands." 

I believe that the trouble is deeper seated. It dates back to 
the time when the Anti-Imperialists in the States frightened the 
insular Government into being self-supporting. Our original 



356 



OUR COLONIES 




THE HIGH SCHOOL, CEBU. 



plan of equipping the Filipino to become a unit in a republic 
was most elaborate. A good general education was an impor- 
tant element in the prescription. To build schools and operate 
them requires money. 

All the funds available permit but one-third of the children 
to attend school and then the buildings are overcrowded. Lack 
of funds forces the employment of many Filipino teachers who 
speak English with such a strong accent that an American, just 
over, has difficulty in understanding them. I went to a school- 
house a few miles out of Cebu and listened to a class in arith- 
metic. The teacher, a young Filipina, wrestled with the 
children in English, but as I turned to go I heard her drop into 
Visayan, as she could not make the class understand otherwise. 
As soon as they get home, the boys and girls put their English 
away with their schoolbooks. American residents do not help 
the matter. They love to try out their "bamboo" Spanish on 
the natives and some even learn Visayan, instead of teaching 
their employes English. 

The phonograph idea, which I have advanced to many 
teachers here, is not so impractical as some declare. Let the 
industrial schools turn to and manufacture phonographs. Put 
one in every home. The Bureau of Education can manufacture 
records in the native dialects with an English translation. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



357 



Advice on sanitation, care of crops and so forth can then reach 
the people. Until the Filipinos speak one common language, 
instead of forty-seven varieties, they cannot form a nation. 
Are they to cling to their Malay tongues and be governed by a 
few Spanish-speaking politicians, or is our splendid work to go 
on to its fulfillment? I hope for the sake of humanity it will 
go on. 

Cebu has been nearly wiped off the map several times by 
fire. Today the principal buildings are of reenforced con- 
crete. The other elements, water and wind, have also paid 
their visit. Tidal waves have flooded the streets and in 1912 
a terrible typhoon hit poor Cebu, killing 400 people and sinking 
or disabling seventeen ships in harbor. Now many of the 
galvanized roofs carry heavy iron chains as an insurance policy 
and other roofs, which are chainless, are covered with "typhoon 
insurance." 

The new municipal water works is the city's pride. 

"Stores enough water for six months," the hotelkeeper told 




GOING FOR WATER WITH BAMBOO TUBES, CEBU. 



358 



OUR COLONIES 



me. "Great fire protection ! Lots put aside for a 'rainless 
day'!" 

The "Osmefia Water Works/' we read on the sign, and the 
"Osmefia Fountain" out on the new avenue. Senor Osmefia is 
Cebu's most distinguished citizen. Speaker of the National 
Assembly in Manila, he is slated for the Presidency of the Fili- 
pino republic by the Visayans. 

"What would you do," I asked a native of Cebu who speaks 
Spanish, "if you had independence and a Tagalog became 
President?" 

"We would go to war," he replied. Osmefia is the only 
Filipino entitled to be first President." 

The Philippine Government has a model leper colony on the 
island of Culion, between Mindoro and Palawan, and Cebu, it 
seems, has been its chief source of supply. I asked a health 
officer about it. 

"Well, a hundred years ago, the Spaniards established a 
leper hospital here and the afflicted were shipped in from all 




CULION LEPER COLONY. CEBU HAS SENT 4,000 LEPERS TO THE COLONY 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



359 



parts of the Visayas. The hospital overflowed and a lot of the 
lepers moved out, settling on the outskirts of the city and over 
on the little island of Mactan. They were never brought in 
and the. disease has flourished. We've sent over 4,000 lepers 
to Culion, over 400 last year. Many of them have died — 
only about 2,500 there now." 

The people in Cebu tell you that the climate is more healthful 
than in Manila, much drier. There were too many mosquitoes 
to suit me and not enough sewers. Some of the newer homes 
are on high ground back of the town toward the range of 
mountains, which forms the city's attractive background. 

Dance halls are very popular here and seem quite respect- 
able. From the hotel balcony I could look into one across the 




THE TOMB OF MAGELLAN, 



3 6o OUR COLONIES 

way, where young men and women waltzed, two-stepped and 
"ragged" to the latest American music. The men pay 20 cen- 
tavos a dance and the girls get half of this. All Filipinos love 
dancing better than anything on earth, but how the women 
manage to keep the chinelas on their stockingless feet as they 
whirl about, is the deep mystery. 

The traveler's Mecca in Cebu is to the island of Mactan, 
reached by launch in half an hour. At the village of Opon, 
where there is a new Osmena pier, I hired a young Filipino to 
drive me to Magellan's tomb. The vehicle was a remarkable 
affair, called a flecha. You sit on a rattan-covered cart, with 
legs hanging out behind, and hold on hard to the railing. In 
about an hour we came to the end of the island, where coconut 
palms form a shady grove. Here, gleaming white in the sun- 
light, is the tomb of Ferdinand Magellan. His tomb, I say — 
it is his monument, rather, for his bones bleached on the nearby 
shore, no man knows just where. But to this point he came 
in the combat with the savage Malays and just over there 
he fell. 

The monument was erected in 1866 by a Spanish Governor, 
but lapsed into decay. An American merchant, living in Cebu, 
recently restored the pile at his own expense, since the Govern- 
ment seemed disinterested. It is a landmark which should be 
reverently preserved for all time in remembrance of the great- 
est navigator the world has ever known. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

MINDANAO. 

MINDANAO, the second largest island in the Philippines, 
is just beaten by a nose, in the race for size, by Luzon. 
In fact, it took the judges some time to decide which was 
entitled to first prize. Both are eight times as large as Samar, 
winner of third place. 

Mindanao, with over 40,000 square miles, is as large as 
Cuba and a little larger than the State of Maine. It lies 500 
miles south of Manila, with which it is connected by a number 
of steamer lines. One of the Government's first acts was to 
provide transportation between these islands. Seventeen coast- 
guard cutters were purchased and given the task of preventing 
smuggling and promoting legitimate trade. Many towns which 
had never been visited by vessels large enough to carry cargo 
were put on regular routes. When the small planter found 
there was a market for his products he brought them to the 
coast. As trade developed commercial steamer lines took the 
place of the Government vessels, which steered off to search 
out other routes in need of service. Freight and passenger 
rates on all lines are fixed by the Bureau of Navigation in 
Manila, a control greatly appreciated by the shipper and the 
traveler. 

On reaching Mindanao wo were surprised to see the name 
spelled "Mindanaw" on the s de of a British firm's warehouse. 
The British take great license in the spelling of foreign names 
in every port of the world, performing a surgical operation 
whenever possible. A traveler once asked an American why 
the Burmah of our schoolbooks is now spelled "Burma." 

"Oh !" replied the Yankee, "you see the British took it, and 
they drop their h's." 

Authorities agree that, while undeveloped, Mindanao is the 

361 



362 



OUR COLONIES 



richest island in the Philippines and, in many respects, the most 
interesting. It has 1,300 miles of coast line, a great mountain 
plateau, the highest peak in the archipelago and two magnifi- 
cent rivers. And its people are as varied as its scenery. 

In the hills of the interior are many pagan tribes, numbering 
over 250,000. These people were originally coast dwellers, 
gaining a living from fishing and the cultivation of rich valleys 
near the shore. Then other men arrived from Borneo and the 
Malay Peninsula, bloodthirsty, sea-roving pirates. They said 
they came to do a little trading, but pressed their bargains with 
free use of knife and spear. The coast people "took to the tall 
timber," and have never since returned to the shore. The 
wicked sea-gypsies, finding the country to their liking, settled, 
were later converted to the Mohammedan faith by an Arab 
from Malaya, and today there are 350,000 of these fierce fol- 
lowers of Mohammed occupying the greater part of Mindanao 
and the islands of the Sulu Sea. The Spaniards, who had 
warred with men of their faith in southern Europe, dubbed 
these people also Moros or Moors, a name which has clung to 
them ever since. They have been warlike first and last. 

In the wake of the Span- 



iards, with their forts and 
Catholic missions, another 
horde of trading sharks 
came down in Mindanao 
from the Visayan Islands, 
settling on the northern and 
northeastern coast. So here 
we have 250,000 simple hill 
people, primitive farmers, 
who are the only real pro- 
d u c e r s of the country, 
hemmed in on all sides by 
350,000 Moros and 50,000 
Visayan-Filipinos. All three 
races hate one another, al- 
though they sprang origi- 




HOME IN TREE TOPS, MINDANAO. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



363 



nally from the same Malay stock. The Moros went up the 
hills, well armed, and forced the pagans to pay a tax, or 
tribute, of farm products and live stock. If these things were 
not forthcoming, the poor hill man was fined. On nonpay- 
ment he was dragged to the lowlands and added to the Sultan's 
ever-increasing band of slaves. The Spaniards were unable 
to prevent this form of graft and the merry game was in full 
swing when the Americans arrived. 

We have changed all this. We have divided the island into 
three parts with different forms of government. 

1. Misamis and Surigao, with their Christian Filipino towns 
fringing the coast, have the usual form of provincial govern- 
ment. 

2. Agusan, with its many wild pagan tribes, has a separate 
form of administration. The Secretary of the Interior is the 
Good Father here, as among the head-hunters of Luzon. 

3. The Moro Province, which includes not only the greater 
portion of Mindanao, but also the islands of the Sulu archipel- 
ago. This province is gov- 

erned by the strong arm of 
the military. 

The settlements in Misa- 
mis and Surigao are like the 
other "bamboo" towns in the J 




A MISAMIS PIPE MAKER. 



364 OUR COLONIES • 

Visayan Islands from whence these people came. The most 
imposing building is the Government school with a manual 
training branch. 

In Luzon, rice is the leading article of diet. The hulling is 
the woman's work and every traveler remembers the thump ! 
thump ! of the heavy pestle in the crude wooden mortar under 
the house. 

Farther south, in the Visayas, corn becomes the staple and 
each house is provided with its primitive grist mill, usually 
operated by men. 

In Mindanao, the sago palm is the meal ticket. Nature is 
kind and raises them by the thousands. Each great palm pro- 
duces one hundred pounds of sago, which is scraped out, 
washed and dried in the sun. The whole family "gets busy" 
here. 

In Misamis I saw hanging baskets filled with rare orchids 
at the window of every humble home. Each house has its own 
squad of policemen, noisy little lizards, which scamper over 
walls and ceilings. Their clicking "That's so !" in the night 
'hours sounds loud enough to have come from a crocodile, all 
out of proportion to their diminutive size. These little crea- 
tures are never molested, as they are the insect traps of the 
country. . They sally forth at dusk to satisfy their magnificent 
appetites on mosquitoes, ants and flies and any other insects 
not too large for their mouths. 

One of the great pests in Mindanao, as on other islands of 
the group, is the rat. There are many local varieties not found 
on other islands, but having the usual annoying and destructive 
appetite. Hordes of hill rats enter the village houses at night, 
leaving at daybreak. When the crops are in the field they do 
not enter the houses in such large numbers, but when outside 
food is scarce, it is really necessary to anchor one's shoes. I 
speak from first-hand knowledge, as I lost mine. 

Some years ago the Government, realizing the economic 
loss to the farmers and the great hazard from bubonic plague, 
offered a bounty on rat skins. Some crafty Chinamen went 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



365 



into the business of breeding rats 
by the wholesale, so the bounty 
was abolished. 

The natives have devised a bow- 
and-arrow trap that is fairly ef- 
fective at first, but the rats soon 
learn to avoid it. An American 
told me he could never catch more 
than five rats with the same type 
of trap. He has decided to im- 
port every variety of rat-trap on 
the market and organize a circu- 
lating club, each trap to progress to 
a neighbor when it has five scalps 
to its credit. 

The death of an American 
editor in Manila last year from 
bubonic plague has caused renewed 
activity in the rat-killing campaign. 
A dead rat, infected with bubonic, 
was found in the editor's desk, 
conclusive evidence that he had 
been bitten by a flea from the ro- 
dent. 

In a northern Mindanao market we first met the famous 
durian. No, it isn't a reptile or an animal, it's a native fruit, 
eight to twelve inches in diameter, with a very thick rind, cov- 
ered with spines, and a "keep off" notice. If you venture to 
open one you will meet with an odor beside which Limburger 
cheese is a delicate perfume. Still, the durian is popular in the 
southern Philippines with some very brave Americans, as well 
as with natives. They say the wild beasts of the jungle fight 
for its possession and even domesticated animals yearn for this 
forbidden fruit. 

I agreed to tackle a durian in the open, with a good stiff 
breeze blowing, but was forced to surrender before I had a fair 




MAN WITH DURIAN FRUIT. 



3 66 



OUR COLONIES 



chance to judge of its taste. Only a soldier, skilled in attack, 
should enter this contest. 

In Misamis we saw many styles of hats of native manufac- 
ture, woven from the bamboo. They are made double, one 
inside the other, and are strong and serviceable. One we 
bought for six pesos (three dollars gold), proved a huge suc- 
cess. These hats are exported in large quantities to Europe 
and America and seem more popular with foreigners than those 
woven from Manila hemp. 




MISAMIS HAT SELLERS. 

In the market of a Christian Filipino town we met a few 
shy pagans from the hills. They had brought bundles of bark 
down to the coast, used to flavor and impart a pinkish color to 
the coconut-blossom tuba beverage. 

The Bukidnon plateau is the home of many of these wild 
people. Of the fourteen distinct pagan tribes in Mindanao the 
Bagobos and Manobos are the best known. The Bagobos 
weave a coarse hemp cloth which they ornament most gor- 
geously with beads. Some of these bead patterns tell the his- 
tory of the tribe and are handed down from father to son. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 367 

Our Government has done splendid work in uplifting these 
savages. We have stopped their being imposed upon by the 
Moros. Trading stores have been opened in Agusan Province, 
where the natives sell basket-work, wood-carving, native cloth 
and articles of ornamentation for a good cash price and buy 
foreign goods and provisions. We operate experimental 
farms where seeds and plants are distributed, and encourage 
the people to take up the forty-acre homestead allotted each 
male by law. 

Many Manobos who used to build their homes up in the 
trees, far away from their neighbors, now live on the ground 
in farming communities. The Agusan Farm School Settle- 
ment has over 10,000 banana plants under cultivation and an 
equal number of papaya trees. 

The progress toward civilization has been greater among 
some of these wild tribes of Mindanao than with any other 
people in the Philippines. They have the longest road to 
travel. There is much work of this nature yet to be done, as 
some of the tribes are still very savage. 

Some years ago a Government scientist was killed by the 
natives while collecting geological specimens. Professor 
Ickis was making his way across the island from the south with 
only one constabulary soldier as guard. In the wilderness of 
the headwaters of the Agusan River, the two men were 
attacked by Manobos. The Professor was felled by a blow on 
the head, but the Filipino soldier was frightfully tortured 
before being killed. 

It has since been learned that the wild forest folk misun- 
derstood the gathering of so many rocks by the scientist. They 
thought he intended to stone them. They claimed their right 
to kill the soldier, as a Filipino had once mistreated a Mahobo 
woman. After many efforts the authorities succeeded in cap- 
turing the murderers. Professor Ickis' remains were recov- 
ered and sent to the States. 

This is the only case of which I have heard where an 
American has been killed by the pagans of Mindanao, a great 
contrast to the bloody record of the Moros. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



ACROSS MORO LAND. 



UT T 7HY don't you go overland across Mindanao? Much 
V V more interesting than going by boat. Good auto- 
mobile road part of the way and the army will provide an 
escort for the saddle trip through the jungle." 

This advice from an American ex-soldier sounded good to 
us, even though our informant owned the automobile line and 
had come aboard at Iligan to hustle up passengers. 

The United States army has charge of the road across the 
Lanao district in the Moro Province from Iligan, on the Sea of 
Mindanao, to Malabang, on the Celebes Sea. The road follows 
the coast to the army post at Camp Overton. Then it strikes 
inland, climbing 2,300 feet in twenty-three miles, to Camp 




SOME LANAO MOROS. 



368 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 369 

Keithley, on the shore of Lake Lanao, dropping down from 
Camp Vicars, on the other side of the lake, to Torrey barracks 
at Malabang. The country, you will note, is well fortified and, 
although there has been no trouble with the Lanao Moros for 
over a year, an armed escort accompanies the few travelers 
who pass through. 

In the Moro Province, where the Americans have met with 
their greatest difficulties in the Philippines, the Government 
positions are mainly held by army and constabulary officers. 
The Moro Province is divided into five districts. Four of 
these, Lanao, Zamboango, Cotabato and Davao, are on the 
island of Mindanao ; the fifth district includes all the islands in 
the Sulu archipelago. 

Lanao has long been cursed by the lawlessness of its Moro 
inhabitants and it is not yet considered safe to travel away 
from the ports unarmed. Major Gilheuser, Governor of the 
district, is a constabulary officer, a splendid type of American, 
and to his wise efforts in pacification the traveler crossing the 
beautiful Lanao country is indebted today. It was not long 
ago that wild Moros, armed with rifle, kris and barong, lay in 
wait along the highway. 

The road from Camp Overton to the lake is through a 
majestic forest. It follows the foaming Agus River, leaping 
from highland lake to sea. Here lies a great source of hydro- 
electric power. At the Maria Cristina Falls the river drops 191 
feet over a fern-hung precipice. We can estimate 30,000 horse- 
power at the falls and probably 500,000 horsepower between 
Lake Lanao and the coast. Some day a fraction of this force 
will be utilized in carrying freight and passengers to the pla- 
teau. Above the forest belt we reached an open, grassy plain 
where Moro ponies graze. Thousands of head of cattle could 
be pastured here. It certainly is a white man's country, if we 
can civilize the inhabitants, and I am of the opinion a Chris- 
tian world demands their civilization or extinction. 

On the highway we met our first Moro, a strange creature 

with long black hair twisted up in a rakish knot on one side of 

the head, while a gaudy cotton cloth, worn like a turban, slid 
25 



37o 



OUR COLONIES 



down toward the opposite ear. He wore a jersey-like shirt, 
skin-tight trousers and was barefooted. His figure was slim, 
almost girlish, the long hair adding to the air of femininity, but 
the expression of his face was very cruel. The color of his 
skin was brown, like that of the Filipinos farther north. 

Of late the wicked Lanao Moros have turned over a new 
leaf. They begin to see that Uncle Sam isn't such a bad chap, 
after all. He treats them fairly and builds good roads, a great 
improvement over rocky trails. They are paying the road tax 
of two pesos and the cedula tax of $1.50 without a murmur. 

The authorities have arranged a native court which meets 
weekly to settle all petty disputes, an arrangement very satis- 
factory to the people. The court consists of five wise men 
from various parts of Lanao, four Datos and one Mohamme- 
dan priest. It meets at the village of Dansalan on Lake Lanao, 
where the Governor lives. 

In the old days, when Sultans held sway in Mindanao, the 




A MORO DATO WITH HIS THREE WIVES AND DAUGHTER, LAKE LANAO. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



371 



Datos were the nobles of the country and their power is still 
great with the masses. Many of them have made the long 
pilgrimage to Mecca and have the proud title of "Hadji." 

In Dansalan we met a wealthy Dato, just back from 
Mecca, who was enthusiastic over the journey. He owned a 
pony and cart and wanted to buy an automobile, but was dis- 
couraged by the Governor, who was afraid he would run into 
every one on the road. 

When his finances permit, the Moro takes unto himself the 
four wives permitted by the Koran, for all are faithful follow- 
ers of the Prophet and believers in his Sacred Book. Many 
Datos have twenty wives, assuming that the "quartet law" 
applies only to common Moros. Some of these women of the 
upper-class harems never go out of the house and are quite 
fair, hardly resembling Malays. A constabulary officer, who 
saw one of them after a combat with the Moros, told me that 
the woman was no darker than a brunette in the States and 
quite pretty. 

Moro women do not fill an important position in the house- 
hold. The men never forget that their Koran declares women 
have no souls. Men, on the other hand, have only to die on 




. 



A MORO WEAVER. 



372 



OUR COLONIES 



the field of battle to receive a passport to Paradise and a brand- 
new set of heavenly wives. Unlike Mohammedans in other 
lands, Moros permit their women to go with faces uncovered. 
They also do the heavier part of the work, leaving household 
tasks for the weaker sex. The men are remarkably brave, 
very haughty and have a violent temper. 

Both sexes are passionately fond of bright colors, red, 
yellow and green being a favorite combination. They weave 
the most attractive cloth in the Philippines and make excellent 
mats. Their inlaid work of silver and brass is quite unique ; 
they make fine weapons and a great variety of brass dishes. 

At thirteen the Moro lass reaches womanhood and is on the 
lookout for a suitor. She paints her underlip and finger nails 
a brilliant red and oils her hair. Her costume consists of a 
loose garment, covering the body from shoulder to knee and 
leaving neck, arms and legs exposed. Of course the would-be 
husband must pay for the girl — ponies, carabaos, weapons or 
slaves to her father. If she is especially attractive he must 
"put up" well and may have to pay on the installment plan. 
I heard of one case where a youth had paid a Dato three ponies 




CAMP KEITHLEY, ON THE SHORE OF LAKE LANAO. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 373 

and two knives for a very nice girl and was still "shy" a cara- 
bao. Along came a rich man, who offered a big price for the 
damsel, and the suitor lost ponies and knives along with the 
lady. 

The wife's position is never certain. Her husband can 
divorce her in three seconds if he is a fast talker. All he 
has to say is, "I divorce you !" three times, with his fingers 
crossed, and the separation is final. The woman does not lose 
standing, however, by being divorced, and may join another 
syndicate of wives, if the opportunity offers. 

The military post, Camp Keithley, adjoins the native vil- 
lage of Dansalan, on the shore of Lake Lanao. This marvel- 
ously beautiful sheet of water, thirty-five miles by seventeen, 
surrounded by wooded hills, lies in an ancient crater. Scenery 
and climate combine in making it a most desirable place for an 
army post, a rival of Camp John Hay, near Baguio. 

There is a full battalion of scouts stationed here. Native 
troops, under various names, have been employed in the Philip- 
pines since the beginning of American occupation. In 1901 
Congress authorized the organization of the Philippine Scouts, 
the limit being placed at 12,000. So far only 5,000 infantry 
are enlisted. These men form part of our regular troops and 
are under United States army discipline. Privates receive 
$8 gold a month, the Government furnishing quarters, food 
and uniforms. The scouts are a highly trained body and have 
done excellent work in our battles with the Moros. Besides 
the 5,000 native scouts, we have 12,000 American soldiers in 
the Islands. At one time we had 60,000 men under arms. 
The command of the Philippines is considered the second 
position of rank in the service. 

Camp Keithley was named for an American hero — an 
enlisted man, who, although wounded, fought his way through 
the Moro ranks to give alarm of night attack. He died as he 
reached an army sentinel near the spot where the post is now 
situated. 

We heard of another hero, a young constabulary officer, who 
won his medal of honor in a hand-to-hand contest with the 



374 



OUR COLONIES 



Moros. Although he has been dead for three years, the name 
Furlong is still feared by the natives of Lanao, who have great 
respect for bravery. 

We stopped overnight at Camp Keithley, crossing the lake 
early next morning. At times the water is too rough to permit 
crossing in small steamers, so a road is being built around the 
lake. Three of the boats now in use are old Spanish craft 
which our adversaries sank before leaving the island to our 
mercy. They gave the machinery a coat of white lead and 
located the sunken boats with buoys, before departing. We 
availed ourselves of this act of Castilian courtesy and raised 
the steamers without delay. 

We were two hours in crossing from Keithley to Vicars, 
where about one hundred Moros were in evidence, and some 
of them did not resent the activity of our photographer. 

In the charge of two typical American packers, furnished 
by the army quartermaster, and armed to the teeth, we started 
off on Missouri cargo mules on the twenty-six-mile ride to Mal- 
abang. This proved a most interesting trip. Near the lake 
we saw upland rice, raised by the Moros without flooding. 
They also raise a very good quality of coffee. The trail soon 
left the open plain and entered the jungle, where giant trees, 




LAKE LANAO, 2,300 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



375 



covered with creeping vines, formed a verdant wall on either 
side. 

Our companions proved most entertaining. One had been 
a cattle ranger in Wyoming and the other hailed from New 
Mexico. 

"You see," said the tall, thin one, with his hand on his 
pistol, "these yere Moros are bad actors. They are supposed 
to be peaceful now, but every now and then one of 'em breaks 
out wild, and cuts the boys up something fearful." 

This did not sound very reassuring, but no Moros peered 
out from the forest. Instead we saw bands of brown mon- 
keys, playing happily in the trees, and one big gray fellow, 
known as the Mindanao Macaque. 

It was nightfall when we dismounted at Torrey barracks, 
within sight of the Celebes Sea. We had made record time, 
twenty-six miles in five hours, not counting the distance we 
traveled up and down on those trotting cargo mules ! 




A MORO GRAVE. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

THE DATOS OF MORO LAND. 
<> tV/'OU see these leading Datos in Moro Land form a sort 
1 of royalty, claiming descent from early Arab mission- 
aries," the American officer told me. "Their blood is a bit 
mixed by this time, but they are still able to get away with it 
and have all the people bluffed into a healthy respect for their 
power. You must meet some of them." 

This was in Cotabato District, on the west coast of Min- 
danao, where the largest river in the Philippines flows through 
a wide, fertile valley into the Celebes Sea. The sleepy little 
town of Cotabato lies five miles up stream and has been the 
seat of government in this part of the country since prehistoric 
times. 

Dato Piang, an old Moro chief, lived forty miles up the 
river. As the officer assured us this old chap was "the whole 




A MORO DATO AND HIS JUDGE. 

376 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS Z77 

show" in the Cotabato region and offered to go up and intro- 
duce us, we chartered a launch and set out. 

The Rio Grande de Mindanao is as wide as its name, a 
muddy stream bordered by low banks, which are overflowed 
certain seasons of the year. Clusters of strange trees, with 
branches projecting straight out from the trunks, were pointed 
out as kopoc, or tree cotton. 

"No, it isn't good for cloth," the American told us. "They 
ship the cotton to the States and use it for stuffing mattresses." 

"What else do you export from here ?" I asked. 

"Gutta-percha, for one thing. The trees are thick over there 
in the forest. Almost half a million pounds came down the 
river last year. It's the only kind of rubber that will do for 
insulating marine cables, so it brings a good price." 

We passed a sawmill and my inquiries brought forth a lot 
of data which checked up with the lumber information gathered 
in other parts of the Islands. 

Lumbering in the Philippines promises to be a great busi- 
ness. The Islands have a virgin forest the area of Kentucky, 
40,000 square miles, and half this amount as well is second- 
growth timber. There are over 2,500 varieties of tree species, 
four times as many as we have in the United States and Can- 
ada. Besides the finest hardwoods in the world, there is much 
timber suitable for building. 

Major Ahern of the United States army, an expert for- 
ester, has been in charge of this branch of the work ever since 
we arrived on the grounds and has carried out a wise policy. 
The Government does not sell the land, only stumpage, and this 
at a very low figure — from $1 gold per thousand feet for 
building timber, up to $5 for narra, the native mahogany. 
Nature provides many of the tropical trees with a swelling 
buttress, as an additional brace for their great weight in shal- 
low soil. This bulge, often three times the diameter of the 
main trunk, forms the material from which marvelous table 
tops are cut. 

China paid a high tribute to Philippine hardwoods when 
the last Emperor of the Flowery Kingdom selected them for 



378 



OUR COLONIES 



his palace, after inspecting samples from all over the world. 
Thousands of specimens are sent to the United States for 
paperweights, the Bureau of Forestry charging twenty cents 
gold and four cents postage. 

While the Philippine Government holds 99 per cent of all 
the standing timber, estimated at $20,000,000,000, a great deal 
of Oregon pine is shipped over here. This is due to lack of 
capital. Modern logging machinery has only just reached 
the Islands. It will be well for our lumbermen to cast an eye 
over the water to these undeveloped isles, where giant trees 
stand, like turkeys before Thanksgiving, "just waiting for 
the ax." If we ever give up the Philippines we will give up 
$20,000,000,000 worth of timber that we are going to need in 
the United States. Dato Piang, we learned, is a partner in 

the lumber business with an 
American in Cotabato. The 
Dato gets the wood out and the 
American saws it. 

The droll old Dato was at 
the landing of "Piang's Place" 
to meet our launch. I had heard 
so much of his power and wealth 
that I had pictured a very gor- 
geous creature, a character from 
the "Arabian Nights," all decked 
out in brocade and jewels. In- 
stead I saw a grizzled old Malay, 
whose costume was not worth 
thirty cents. It was of dirty 
white cotton, and so was his 
turban. Some of his finger nails 
were an inch long and his teeth 
were stained black from betel. 

We soon saw, however, that 
the greasy old Piang was a 
shrewd chap. They say he has 
Chinese blood, which accounts 




DATO PIANG. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 379 

for his intelligence. He speaks Spanish quite well and under- 
stands a little English. As a host we found him most agree- 
able. Food and drinks were served on a soiled tablecloth in the 
front room of his two-story house, and we were introduced to 
several minor Datos, who dance attendance on Piang. 

One of these Moros was quite elaborately dressed and 
was followed by two bearers, one with a large umbrella, the 
other with a handsome brass spittoon. 

"Doesn't Dato Piang ever rig himself up?" I asked the 
army officer, who knew the old chief well. 

"Oh, you should have seen him when they had the fair at 
Cotabato," said the American, with a smile. "He came down 
the river in a barge of state, propelled by seventy rowers. 
From the mast flew his own peculiar flag, yellow, red and pur- 
ple — and I can tell you the bamboo craft was 'some decorated.' 
There was a clown at the bow, who performed antics, and a 
dancing fool — just like the kings of old. There were twelve 
male drummers, dressed in scarlet, and a row of female tom- 
tom players. As for Dato Piang, I haven't enough adjectives 
to describe his splendor. You can bet that barge made a hit!" 

Piang has a large harem. He has had forty-eight chil- 
dren and twenty-eight are still alive. Two of his sons speak 
English and one has traveled in the States. His settlement 
consists of many houses and shops. Among his varied busi- 
ness interests, I heard most of the manufactory, farther up the 
river, where articles of great beauty are made. There are 
wonderfully embossed "chow" dishes of metal, used for food, 
with gayly colored straw covers ; brass gongs of many tones, 
and some of the finest weapons made in Moro Land — krises, 
campilans and barongs, inlaid with gold and silver. 

The most elaborate household in Mindanao does not be- 
long to a Dato, but to a mere woman, the "Princessa," as she 
is called in Cotabato. This Malay lady, tracing her lineage 
from the Mohammedan conqueror of the island, has, as our 
American friend expressed it, "a most marvelous collection of 
junk." I have never seen so many barbaric urns, vases and 
trays outside of a curio shop. A dozen dancing girls attend 



3 8o 



OUR COLONIES 



her highness, who takes herself very seriously. Her hair is 
piled high in a peak and she wears a gold-embroidered gown. 
Not long ago the "Princessa" left her own home to enter the 
harem of the Sultan of Maguindanao, who does not seem to 
cut much of a figure, although his title sounds pretty high. 
There are many Sultanates in Mindanao, but none of prime im- 
portance, like the Sultanate of Sulu. 

The history of the Moros is only traditional before their 
conversion to the faith of Islam. With Mohammedanism 
came knowledge, art and a degree of civilization, and the old 
manuscripts, in the possession of the Datos, record family his- 
tory in a systematic manner. 

Cotabato's fertile acres are but sparsely populated. As 
large quantities of rice are annually imported into the Philip- 
pines from French Cochin-China, the Government decided to 
bring Visayans down from the crowded island of Cebu to the 
rich lands bordering the Mindanao River. This tract, forty 




THE PRINCESSA OF COTABATO AND HER ATTENDANTS. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



38i 




PLOWING A RICE FIELD. 

miles above Dato Piang's place, is called the Carpenter Rice 
Colony, after the former executive secretary. Five hundred 
families from an alien isle have settled here among the Moros, 
each receiving forty acres, a carabao and a credit of 500 pesos. 
This loan is to be repaid in four annual payments. A company 
of constabulary soldiers, stationed near by, furnishes protec- 
tion to the immigrants. 

In the southeast corner of Mindanao is the District of 
Davao, which contains some of the best hemp land in the archi- 
pelago. There are over forty American settlers in this section 
and they are prospering, now that hemp has gone up. Some 
of them raise Davao lemons, on the side, the size and shape 
of an orange, and filled with juice. The highest mountain in 
the Philippines is in this part of the country, Apo, reaching to 
10,311 feet; and just off the coast is the greatest ocean depth 
in the world. A German vessel, sounding two years ago, 
marked off six miles, which puts Guam's coast record in second 
place. 

Our last port in Mindanao was Zamboanga, on the tip 



382 OUR COLONIES 

end of the western peninsula, capital of the Moro Province. 
This, to my mind, is the most beautiful city in the Islands, a 
little spotless town, kept spick and span by military rule. With 
its time-worn fortress, wide, shaded avenues, coral-surfaced 
streets, cool parks and attractive homes, Zamboanga is in a 
class by itself. The old gray fort tells the story of a mellow 
past. For centuries this has been the borderland of Christian 
invasion against the Mohammedans. 

We met another Dato here, Dato Mandi, who was no less 
than Deputy Governor of the whole Zamboanga District, a 
proof that the Americans appreciated his power with the 
Moros. 

Fourteen miles from the city, by a splendid motor road, is 
San Ramon prison, built in the midst of a coconut grove, 
overlooking the sea. The five hundred Moro prisoners have 
built their own home — burned the brick and put up the build- 
ings. Instead of a grim, stone wall, shutting off God's air 
and sunshine, an open grating surrounds these buildings. This 
is unique and a vast improvement over prisons in the States. 
The men who are not busy on road work split and dry coco- 
nuts, for San Ramon is a great plantation. Work in the open 
air proves the best method of redemption. 

In regard to helping the wicked, weak or ignorant toward 
better things, I heard of an unusual method employed by a capa- 
ble American woman in charge of a school for Moro girls. 
The first day the pupils appeared she gave them a bath with 
palm-olive soap ; the second day she washed their heads in 
coal oil ; the third day they got a dose of castor oil. Then 
she began the lessons. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



BLOOD-SOAKED JOLO. 

OF THE two hundred and fifty palm-fringed, sun-kissed 
isles which form a chain from Mindanao to Borneo, one 
— the island of Sulu — has stamped its name on the entire archi- 
pelago. Popularly known as Jolo, after its chief city, it has 
been the scene of almost constant bloodshed for over three 
hundred years. 

While all Moros are "poor benighted 'eathen, but first-class 
fightin' men," the Sulu brand is rated as the world's greatest 
scrapper. He has always fought, and to a finish. The Span- 
iards learned this, for their soldiers, sent to maintain peace, 
returned in "pieces." Bitter, bloody battles have marked our 
sixteen years' effort to subdue these fanatical fatalists, yet 
today they are still defiant. 

Long before Magellan reached the Philippines, the Sulus 
had become Mohammedans. Their ruler, the Sultan, was rec- 
ognized throughout the archipelago. They had laws and an 
organized government, an alphabet and a system of education. 
They fished and planted, had firearms and forts. Natural-born 
navigators with speedy craft, they 
lorded it over the Southern seas. 

When the Spaniards expelled the 
Sulus' brother Mohammedans from Ma- 
nila, the real contest began. Moro war- 
craft harried the coast towns of the 
northern islands. Ten thousand Chris- 
tian Filipinos were captured and en- 
slaved. The women were distributed 
among the chiefs, the men among the 
warriors as field hands. The aged were 




383 



A TYPICAL SULU MORO 
FACE. 



3^4 



OUR COLONIES 



frequently sold to wild tribes in Borneo to be sacrificed in 
pagan rites. 

As a proof of the fear inspired by these pirates, watch- 
towers stand today in many ports of the islands, where Spanish 
sentinels kept a sharp lookout for "those cursed Sulus." Their 
reputation has worn well. A merchant on the island of Cebu 
told me that even now, if some one would stand in the middle 




JOLO PIER, ISLAND OF SULU. 

of a village street on a dark night and yell "Moros !" half the 
town would take to the woods. 

The Spaniards retaliated. They sent seasoned troops, com- 
manded by their ablest generals, to Jolo, the Wasps' Nest. 
They were practically exterminated by the brass cannon of the 
Sulus. 

More troops ! More slaughter ! Then whole fleets were 
dispatched from Manila, a regular Armada! A landing was 
finally effected and the town of Jolo fortified. But holding it 
was as hard as handling a pack of wildcats. The Spaniards 
had to build a wall around the place. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



385 



Killing Christian soldiers continued to be a popular Sulu 
pastime. It was not until 1878 that Spain at last succeeded in 
securing a protectorate over the islands, paying annual tribute 
to the Sultan and his leading Datos. Even then some Moros 
not on the salary list kept on with the fireworks and the city's 
gates were closed for months at a time. 

Moslems have a very unpleasant habit of going juramen- 
tado. The British call it "running amuck," in their Moham- 
medan colonies. A man gets all worked up about something, 
makes an oath to kill a Christian and cuts up every foreigner in 
sight. A Spanish general lost twelve men by this form of 
attack. 

"Go up to the Sultan's house," he commanded, "and shoot 
it up !" The soldiers obeyed. This brought the Sultan to the 
fort in a rush. 

"General ! General !" he cried. "Your men are shooting into 
my house !" 

"Can't help it," replied the General. "They've all gone 
juramcntado I" 




26 UNITED STATES MILITARY HEADQUARTERS, JOLO. 



386 OUR COLONIES 

Spain was still fighting the Stilus when Dewey sailed into 
Manila Bay. The Spanish troops left Jolo in May, 1899, and 
we garrisoned the fort the same day. What we have learned 
at first hand about the Sulu Moros since then would fill 
volumes ! 

From time to time a brief synopsis of this experience has 
flashed by wireless from Jolo to Zamboanga and on to make 
headlines for the press. A bit of sameness, perhaps, in these 
dispatches to the stay-at-homes : 

"Heroic Dash Up to Moro Cotta ! Hand-to-Hand Conflict 
With Demons !" But to the men making history there is vari- 
ety enough ! 

Not many of us in the States know exactly what a Moro 
cotta is ; but we do know that Jolo is on the map and we have 
a wholesome respect for their fighting men. 

I, for one, did not appreciate what a wonderful series of 
fortifications Nature had given the Sulus until I visited Jolo. 
Thirteen hours out from Zamboanga we steamed past the bat- 
tle-scarred island. Its sky-line showed a series of extinct vol- 
canoes, their bowl-shaped craters plainly visible. As I stood 
gazing at the port we were nearing, a ship's officer came on 
deck. 

"Do you see that peak back of the town ?" he asked. "That's 
Dajo, where General Wood rounded up a band of renegades 
back in '96 — killed every Moro in the bunch, 1,400 of 'em. You 
see these craters make great defenses," he went on. "Every 
one of them has been a Moro cotta some time or other. You 
heard about Bagsak? Forgotten? Well, look up some of the 
boys in Jolo who were in the fight. They'll give you a story 
worth while." 

As we came alongside the dock I saw a familiar scene, 
although I had never before been in Jolo. There they were — the 
old lighthouse, the great stone gate, the waving palms — all the 
first-act setting of George Ade's comic opera, "The Sultan of 
Sulu." 

I looked about for a jinrikisha, as we had used them in 
Zamboanga and. found them very comfortable. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 387 

. ....... 




J^lS 



ENTRANCE TO THE TOWN OF JOLO FROM THE PIER. GEORGE ADE REPRODUCED 
THIS SCENE IN HIS COMIC OPERA, "THE SULTAN OF SULU/" 



"We don't have rickshaws here/' said an American on the 
pier. "Zambo's the only place you'll find them in the Philip- 
pines. This town is too small for them, anyway, and no one 
would care to go outside the walls in that sort of a rig. Too 
easy for a Moro to give you a bolo in the back." 

Walled Jolo is a tabloid town, not over five hundred yards 
square. It is beautifully laid out, with broad, clean streets, 
lined with double rows of flame trees, and three attractive little 
parks. The wall has five gates, but only two are now open — 
the pier entrance and one land gate. Outside the walls is the 
Moro village of Tulay, and the Chinese settlement. A part of 
the outer town, called Busbus, received its name from a place 
of execution in the days of the independent Sultanate. Per- 
sons convicted of capital crimes were tied to a tree here and 
hacked to pieces. Hence the name Busbus — to chop up. You 
cannot get away from bloodstains in Jolo. I became saturated 



OUR COLONIES 



with tales of courage and daring, feats of little bands of sol- 
diers who have kept Uncle Sam busy stamping medals of honor. 
When the Stars and Stripes were raised on the island, we 
had visions of a peaceful rule. We had the experience of other 
nations ruling Mohammedan subjects to draw on — England in 
India, Egypt, Borneo and British Malaya; France in Algiers; 
Italy in Tripoli ; Holland in the East Indies ; to say nothing of 
Spain's long years with Moors and Moros. We knew that the 




UNITED STATES SOLDIERS ENTERING THE GATE TO JOLO. 



Moros had refused to join Aguinaldo's revolt against us. We 
began gently. 

Colonel Scott, who had turned Apaches into farmers in the 
States, brought fatherly methods to Jolo. He was patient and 
kind. But the Sulu is ruled only by fire and iron. The Colonel 
was obliged to fight a powerful chief and liis followers near 
Crater Lake, where he was terribly wounded, losing half his 
fingers in a bolo rush. Unwilling to give up until he conquered 
them, the gallant soldier tracked the fanatics, with open 
wounds, for three dreadful months. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



389 



Then came the big Dajo battle, where our troops, with 
slight loss, climbed the mountain and killed every Moro in the 
crater. Orders were issued for all Sulus to give up their 
weapons, the Government agreeing to pay a fixed price for 
every gun and kris. As a Moro's standing among his fellows is 
dependent on the quantity and quality of his weapons, this 
command was resisted. We then began a vigorous campaign 
to collect them and we are still at it. Originally we estimated 
the guns on the island to number 1,500. Already we have 
gathered in 5,000, a most marvelous assortment, from ancient 
Spanish to modern types. Krises and campilans must also be 
given up, but a man is allowed to keep his working bolos. 

This weapon-collecting has been grilling work. We have 




A MORO TREE HOUSE. 



390 



OUR COLONIES 



used scouts, including several companies of Mindanao Moros, 
and constabulary, besides our regular soldiers. 

Six battles were fought in a year's time, Bagsak, in June, 
1913, being the fiercest engagement of American arms in the 
Philippines. In fact, the history of modern warfare contains 
no parallel to the five days of incessant battle on this mountain 
slope and crest. 

Bagsak, with its six cultivated acres within the crater, has 
long been the stronghold for rebels. All around the mountain 
the Moros built unusually strong defenses, or cottas, consisting 
of adobe walls on bamboo framework, reenforced by loopholed 
logs. Our troops surrounded Bagsak at night and at dawn the 
mountain batteries started the attack on the lowest cottas. As 
these were demolished, the plucky Mindanao scouts led the 
slow ascent to the crater. Every inch was contested. At night 
our men built barbed-wire entanglements around their camps 
as a protection from knife thrusts, but the loss, even then, was 
heavier than by day. It took one hundred and twenty hours 
to crawl up 2,000 feet. 




A MORO WAR DANCE. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 391 

On the fifth day the Sulus were driven to their last cotta. 
They knew that the end had come and they laughed at death, 
for death on the battleground means Paradise Eternal to the 
Moslem. Two hours of desperate hand-to-hand fighting and 
our men reached the crater's brink. For an hour a leaden hail 
poured in on the wild-eyed warriors — and it was the end. 

The end ? Yes — of Bagsak, which will long be remembered 
for contempt of danger, the testing of men by fire and sword 
— but not the end of the Sulu resistance. 

"Were any women killed at Bagsak?" I asked an officer, 
just out of the hospital. He eyed me cautiously before replying. 

"You people over in the States don't understand," he said. 
"Moro women dress like men and fight quite as desperately. 
In the heat of battle we can't stop to inquire the sex. I got 
that bolo thrust in my side from a woman." The subject was 
dropped. 

"How many Moros were killed at Bagsak?" I inquired. 

"I don't know," he said, "the crater wasn't quite full. We 
got over six hundred guns." 

Lieutenant Whitney of the Philippine constabulary, who 
received his medal of honor at Bagsak, where he was seriously 
wounded, was made Governor of Jolo. Not long afterward he 
was attacked by two Sulus armed with bolos. Grasping the 
nearer with his left arm in such a manner that he was unable 
to use his knife, the Governor, who was still badly crippled, 
shot the second man, then turned his pistol on the one at near 
range. I saw the knives which were taken from the dead 
Moros and heard much of Whitney's coolness and courage. 
He was ruling the Sulus with a rod of iron and, if only he is 
allowed to carry out his policy, all the bad Moros will soon be 
below ground. 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE SULTAN OF SULU. 
£ t T'M AFRAID you can't see the Sultan of Sulu. He's not 
X in Jolo just now — living on the other side of the island." 

My looks must have shown my disappointment, for coming 
to Sulu and not seeing the Sultan was like a visit to Washing- 
ton with the Capitol left out. 

Sulu is only a ten by thirty island, so "the other side" did 
not sound very far away. 

"Why can't we ride over to see the Sultan?" I asked. "We 
want to take his photograph." 

It was unsafe, they said. Sulu was filled with bad Moros. 
No civilians wanted at large. This seemed to settle it. A few 




MORO SPEAR DANCE. 
392 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS * 393 

hours later, however, we were gliding away from Jolo's pier on 
a small steamer which we had chartered, bound for "the other 
side." 

We had heard much about the Sultan. In these sunny 
isles, within striking distance of the equator, where the even 
climate hardly permits of weather conversation, the void is 
filled by anecdotes of this representative of Allah. There is 
nothing wrong with the Sultan's ancestral tree. He can trace 
his royal branch back to the first Moslem ruler of the Sulu 
archipelago. 

When the Mayflower anchored at Plymouth Rock, sov- 
ereignty on this edge of the world was maintained by three 
Sultans. One was at Johore on the Malay Peninsula ; another at 
Brunei in North Borneo ; a third on the island of Sulu. Though 
all were Mohammedans, there was great rivalry and jealousy 
among them. Each was supreme over a large territory ; each 
ruled many subjects, had many ships, and made quite a dis- 
play of royal splendor. 

The Sultans of Johore and Sulu were on bad terms with 
the ruler of Brunei, whose territory lay between, so they ar- 
ranged an alliance against him. A princess of Johore was 
given in marriage to the Sultan of Sulu. In those days the 
bride went to the home of the groom, so a gorgeous fleet was 
equipped to escort the lady to the Sulu Sea. Many gifts were 
sent to the prospective bridegroom, half a dozen elephants 
being a special feature. 

But alas and alack ! The wicked Borneo Sultan heard of 
the program. Out on the China Sea went his armed fleet to 
intercept the Johore flotilla. The bride was captured and taken 
to Brunei, where she was added to the Sultan's harem. The 
elephants sailed on in safety to Sulu. There they multiplied, 
but had such an unpleasant habit of pulling up young coconut 
trees that they were finally killed off by the Sulus. 

The forlorn bridegroom did not overlook the bad turn done 
him by Brunei. At the very first opportunity he sent a raiding 
expedition to Borneo, capturing many headsmen, whom he held 
as hostages until exchanged for a large section of territory. 



394 



OUR COLONIES 




MAIBUN, OLDEST SETTLEMENT ON ISLAND OF SULU. 
HAVE ALWAYS HAD A PALACE HERE. 



SULTANS 



This land in Borneo remained subject to Sulu rule through 
many reigns, until 1865, when a British company offered the 
Sultan and his heirs $5,000 (Mexican currency) annually for 
30,000 square miles, including 600 miles of coast line. This 
offer was too tempting to be refused, and the British flag now 
flies over North Borneo. So you see the Sultan of Brunei, 
whose entire territory became in time British owned or pro- 
tected, paid quite a penalty for bride-stealing. 

"There's Maibun," said the captain, "that bunch of shacks 
over to the right." I had expected more than this, for the 
place is the oldest settlement on the island and has long been 
the home of Sultans. We approached at low tide and the 
odor from the mud was almost unbearable. Most of the town 
is built on piles over the water, a popular method in the Sulu 
country. About 1,000 inhabitants would be a generous esti- 
mate. A motley crowd assembled, as visitors are rare here, 
and word was sent to the Sultan, who lives on a hill half a mile 
from the town. Before we could call on him, he called on us. 

Down the road he came, Jamalul Kiram II., not as I pic- 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



395 



tured his ancestors, mounted on bespangled elephants, but 
astride a somewhat moth-eaten pony and carrying a big yellow 
umbrella. A member of his court followed, also mounted. 
Behind him came the rabble. 

His highness was most gracious, shook hands, offered us 
a chew of betel from his highly ornate brass box and con- 
versed in rather poor Spanish. He posed for his photograph 
and seemed pleased when told that it would be published later. 
He is forty-seven years old and has been Sultan since 1894. 
The Spaniards put one of his relatives on the throne in 1886, 
but as Jamalul Kiram was in direct line, his father and brother 
having ruled, the Sulus backed him almost to a man. They 
made it so warm for the usurper that he was forced to retire. 

The present Sultan's rule, however, has been disappointing. 
He seems to have lost much of his influence with his people and 
his reign has been as bloody as any in Moro history, although 
he has taken no part in the conflicts. His palace in Jolo is as 




HIS HIGHNESS, THE SULTAN OF SULU. 



396 



OUR COLONIES 



unpretentious as his home in Maibun, but in Singapore, down 
in the Straits Settlements, he owns a real palace which he rents 
to a Chinese gentleman. 

Some years ago the Sultan made a tour of the world, vis- 
iting many cities in the United States, and has made several 
trips to Singapore. He usually travels with four wives and a 
retinue, putting on quite a little style. 

His income is considerable. Besides his annual revenue 
from the North Borneo Company, Uncle Sam pays him $5,000 
a year, for which amount he is supposed to use his influence 
toward peace. As one of the boys in Jolo expressed it, "We 
aren't getting a run for our money." 

Then he has quite a revenue from the rent of pearling 
grounds and takes many of the large pearls as his right from 
native divers. Altogether he should be a rich man, but unfor- 
tunately he is an inveterate gambler and loses money and pearls 
to the crafty Chinese fan-tan players. 

Our tour of the Philippines was nearing its end as we 




MORO CHILDREN READY TO DIVE FOR COINS, ISLAND OF SULU. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



397 




SOME SULU SMUGGLERS. 



reached the southernmost islands. The two hundred and fifty 
isles of the Sulu archipelago form a long chain stretching from 
Mindanao southwestward to Borneo. 

Although the Sulus have long cultivated the land, their 
principal revenue has come from the sea — in piracy, smuggling 
and pearling. It is difficult to say which has been the most 
profitable ; certainly piracy has been the most popular and held 
its own until the advent of steam. Smuggling is a compara- 
tively modern business. Pearling is a very ancient occupa- 
tion. 

The forefathers of the Sulus ate oysters, using the shells 
for plates, and ornamented their children with pearl neck- 
laces. Long ago the Chinese sailed down to the Sulu Sea in 



398 



OUR COLONIES 



their junks to trade silks and porcelain for pearls and pearl 
shells. 

In the old days all the large pearls were the private prop- 
erty of the Sultan, furnishing him a splendid income, as the 
vast pearling grounds of the Sulu and Celebes Seas give the 
finest round pearls in the world. But it is not the pearls, 
strange to say, that make the business so attractive today. 
Less than five per cent of the shells contain pearls, so they 
supply the "sporting chance." It is the shell known commer- 
cially as mother-of-pearl which brings the steady income. 

The town of Jolo is the trade center for a vast stretch of 
tropic sea and here congregate the buyers from Europe on the 
lookout for the only gems produced in the "Kingdom of the 
Sea." Over forty sailing vessels with diving apparatus make 
their headquarters at Jolo. There is considerable outlay in 
the equipment, each vessel costing $4,000. They make two 
ten-day trips a month. Each boat carries a crew of eight, two 
of them divers. The divers are the important men, receiving 
a percentage of the haul besides a monthly salary. The pearl- 
ing boats are chiefly owned by Chinese and Japanese, the Sul- 
tan of Sulu owning one. 

At daylight the divers descend to the ocean floor and are 
carried along by the current, the 
^ vessels following. When their 

JM ^ I i. m A„„ m .. m ,,„,; i baskets are filled they are ready to 
^wWf I f I ascend. 

"Do they have much trouble 
with sharks?" I asked the captain, 
as we passed a pearler on our way 
south from Maibun. 

"No, that's not what bothers 
them," said the skipper, well ac- 
quainted with Sulu waters. "It's 
paralysis that gets them, caused 
by pulling them up to the surface 
too quickly. They should be pulled 
out on the installment plan, giving 




SHARKS FINS. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

them a chance to work their arms 
and legs and get the excess of 
nitrogen out of their systems. You 
see, the great pressure of the water 
forces it into their blood." 

Natives still dive for pearls 
without the modern air-pump, and 
some operate a dredge, but the ma- 
jority of the shells are gathered by 
the new method. 

"Did you ever hear how the sea 
became phosphorescent ?" asked the 
captain that night, as we plowed 
our way through gleaming water. 

"The natives say that long ago 
a brave Rajah fought a wicked 
giant. The Rajah killed his en- 
emy, but in pulling back his kris, 
his magic golden ring flew off and 
rolled into the sea. He saw it 
gleaming near the shore and 
reached for it, but it broke into a 
thousand dazzling lights which 

scattered over the water. And that's why the sea down here 
phosphorescent." 

From Jolo we sailed south to Siasi, Tawi-Tawi and Bongao, 
isles not far from the coast of Borneo. The southernmost con- 
stabulary post in the Philippines is stationed on Bongao and 
the brave young officer in charge here keeps peace, far away 
from reinforcements from Jolo. Swallows' nests and sharks' 
fins, so prized by the Chinese as food, are among the strange 
shipments from this part of the world. 

These are the islands which give Uncle Sam's representatives 
a tropical nightmare, for this is the principal smuggling ground. 
It is just an easy hop from Borneo over to these southern 
islands ; then smooth sailing on to Jolo and Mindanao, with 
transshipment to the northern Philippines. 




EDIBLE BIRDS NESTS FOR SALE. 



IS 



400 




OPIUM BALLS. 



OUR COLONIES 

Speedy craft, sneaking over with 
firearms, keep the Sulus well sup- 
plied. Opium, too, which is under 
Government ban in the Philippines, 
comes over in this manner, its price 
being so attractive that the natives 
will resort to any device to evade 
official vigilance. They even fill 
the bamboo masts of their fleet 
vintas, as the boats are known, 
with opium, and hang it to the 
keels. The Government has put a 
fast cruiser on this trail, hoping to 
stop the traffic. 

In North Borneo the British 
company "farms out" the opium 
monopoly to Chinamen, the poppy 
from which it is made coining 
from India in round balls the size 
of a Dutch cheese. Water is 
added and the mass is boiled into 
a paste. The opium farm's plant 
is being increased to supply Philip- 
pine trade, so business looks good 



for the Sulus, superb smugglers of the Southern seas. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

WHAT WE SHOULD DO. 

WE NOW have arrived at the point where it is necessary 
to sum up the result of our investigations and obser- 
vations in the Philippines. Clearly, the United States Gov- 
ernment under past administrations has achieved splendid 
results in these Islands. The change and improvements effected 
have been, in fact, surprising. From a stagnant, almost bar- 
barous condition at the time of American occupation, the 
interests and population of the Islands have been lifted toward 
a distinctly higher plane. 

Consider what is being done in the matter of the education 
of the rising generation of these tribes. Not much can be 
expected of the adults, to be sure, but the future of the Islands 
may be molded for good by the educating of the young. In 
that lies the real hope for the Philippines. English is now 
taught in the almost 3,000 public schools, and to an average 
enrollment in 19 13 of 329,756 pupils. That is mainly the work 
of the United States, and it means something. Turn the 
Islands over to the Filipinos, and unquestionably the school 
system will retrograde and culture decline. 

There are successful trade and industrial schools in the 
Islands, and elementary agriculture is taught in all the public 
schools. For higher education there is the free State-supported 
University of the Philippines, with colleges of Liberal Arts, 
Medicine and Surgery, Engineering, Agriculture and a School 
of Fine Arts. In 1913 there were 704 students in the collegiate 
departments and 694 in the School of Fine Arts. A very good 
showing, you observe. It would be a pity to put this fine 
school system into the hands of half-baked native Filipino 
politicians. We have done things well in the Philippines main- 
ly because they have been done by intelligent authority, much 
27 40I 



4 02 OUR COLONIES 

as we have done things in the Panama Canal Zone, Porto Rico 
and Hawaii. 

Besides establishing the school system, we have done many 
other praiseworthy things. We have enormously increased 
the commerce of the Islands and expanded the agricultural 
area ; we have installed 590 postoffices with 437 postal savings 
banks, which have 39,909 accounts ; we have strung the Islands 
with telegraph lines and cables ; we have increased the railroads 
from 120 miles in 1898 to 604 miles, with 440 miles building; 
we have extended the system of roads until they comprise 4,531 
miles, about one-half of which is hard-surfaced, and having 
5,660 permanent bridges and culverts. We have established 
successful newspapers and banks in the Islands, as well as 
courts of justice; we have liberalized religion, and put the 
money of the country on a secure gold basis. In my opinion, 
we have done exceedingly well. 

However, having done well thus far, it is unfortunately 
now the policy of the American administration to undo much 
of what we have done. In my opinion, that will be the result 
of the present administration's policy of Filipino independence, 
if carried into effect. A bill has recently been introduced in the 
United States Congress the ultimate intention of which is to 
give the Filipinos entire self-government. The bill has been 
approved by the President and leaders of the administration. 
The measure provides for a Government in which the Governor- 
General and the members of the Supreme Court are the only 
officials to be appointed by the President, and does away with 
the Philippine Commission. An upper and lower house of 
legislature are to be voted for by the people, and the pream- 
ble states that it never was the intention of the people of the 
United States to hold the Islands permanently, which means 
that presently they are to be handed back to the natives. In 
my belief, a distinct and disastrous blunder is being perpe- 
trated. 

I am convinced by what I saw in the Islands that it would 
be, ultimately, injurious to the Filipinos themselves to give 
them independence, because they will be incapable of progres- 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 403 

sive self-government for generations to come, and always unable 
to protect themselves against conquest by any nation that sees 
fit to attack them. I predict that, if given independence, the 
passing of a year or two would see them convulsed by revolu- 
tions, for the reason that the country consists of separate 
islands and the population of mixed, inharmonious races. 
Besides, great as has been our influence in teaching them civil- 
ized ways, they are, and will be for a long time to come, entire- 
ly unfit to use the franchise intelligently and peacefully, an 
absolute essential in self-government. They have no proper 
conception of what liberty and equality mean, and are wholly 
unfit for a republic. 

The mistake has been that from the first we have encour- 
aged the Filipinos to look forward to the day when they will 
have complete control of their Government. This has kept 
them stirred up and dissatisfied, and has concentrated the atten- 
tion of the people on political conditions rather than on eco- 
nomic affairs, an influence that has worked them injury. 

Business institutions in the Islands are, naturally, at a loss 
to know what to look forward to in the future. If the United 
States remains in charge, they feel that things will be stable, if 
the Islands are turned back into the hands of the natives, busi- 
ness men do not know whether the Government will hang 
together, or what the laws will be. Depression has begun in 
the Philippines; the Islands are rich in resources, and capital 
is needed, but capital fears to invest where there is so much 
uncertainty. 

True, there is a certain demand for independence in the 
Islands, but it is mainly made by the native politicians, who 
would be freed of all restraint, and with what results you have 
but to remember the revolutionary history of most tropic coun- 
tries. Still, admitting that it is possible that they might main- 
tain self-government against internal disruption, how long 
would their independence last? If they are not able to protect 
themselves against outside aggression, what is to become of 
their independence? 

We propose to hand them something which they cannot 



404 OUR COLONIES 

keep unless we protect them, and when they have involved 
themselves in trouble with other nations, we will have to go to 
war in their behalf about disputes in which we have no part 
and over which we have no control. 

If we are to assume responsibility, it is my conviction that 
we should have control, especially of a territory so distant as 
the Philippines, and one so obviously unfit for self-government. 
On our part, responsibility without control has the appearance 
of sheer foolishness, nothing less. In point of fact, the Fili- 
pinos are not fitted for wisely using the partial governmental 
control which has already been given them, much less complete 
mastery of the Islands. This fact is clinched by the unsatis- 
factory conditions developing in the Islands. 

Here are some items to consider : 

i. The Filipinization of the military service has continued 
with greater activity than formerly. 

2. Governor Harrison, who stated in his first address to 
the Philippine people that he owed his appointment to the 
activity of Manuel Quezon, Philippine Commissioner in 
Washington, is not popular with the Americans in Manila. 

3. A number of departments have been discontinued, the 
reason given being that the Philippine Government cannot 
properly maintain them, indicating inefficiency. 

4. Many Americans are out of employment, and have not 
sufficient funds to pay their passage home to the States, the 
result of a bad policy. 

5. The Moro Province is no longer under military control. 
The scouts have been replaced by native constabulary soldiers, 
in smaller numbers, a bad thing. 

6. The condition of sanitation is bad in Manila, owing to 
the appointment of Filipinos as inspectors. If the flies have 
come into Manila in great numbers because of neglected gar- 
bage cans, etc., the condition must be doubly bad in cities like 
Cebu and Iloilo, where sanitary conditions are not so advanced 
as in the capital. 

7. There is no longer work to take young American 
engineers to the Philippines. The stage of construction seems 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 405 

to have ended, for the present, at least. We need these islands 
for our young men to go to instead of to some country south 
of the equator, under a different flag. 

8. The business men of the Islands are uncertain about 
the future, a fact that makes depression. 

9. The custom collections fell off 2,889,765 pesos in the 
last six months of 1913. In the first three months of 1914 
the total trade of the principal ports of the Islands decreased 
1,525,500 pesos, showing the effect of mistaken administrative 
policy. 

However, the gravest question of all is our moral responsi- 
bility to this people, a people that we liberated from the tyranny 
of Spain, and now propose to turn loose to probable self- 
destruction or the questionable mercies of Japan or China. 
We have done them much good ; we should continue to teach 
and develop them ; it is a plain case of moral obligation, as well 
as good business. If we wish to avoid war about the Philippines, 
we should make them a permanent, integral part of the United 
States ; if we wish to invite war concerning them, a sure way is 
to throw them on their own childish resources, then attempt to 
protect them from other nations. To "make good" the plat- 
form of the political party at present dominant in the United 
States, this course is now contemplated. I sincerely hope that 
it may not be carried forward to its inevitable disastrous con- 
clusion. We need the Philippines in the Orient as we need the 
Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific on the road to that Orient, and I 
enter my everlasting protest against the abandoning of the peo- 
ple of these beautiful islands to the disastrous destiny which 
almost surely must be theirs if the difficult task of self-govern- 
ment is placed in their childish hands. We need not fear; 
bread cast upon the water returns, and with time we will find 
the Philippines valuable and profitable, as well as an example 
of what strong, civilized nations should do in the uplifting of 
the younger, weaker branches of the human race. Where the 
Stars and Stripes once float they should never be pulled down. 



PORTO RICO 

Area, 3,606 square miles — Population, present estimate, 1,200,- 
000; according to 1910 census there were 732,555 whites, 
50,245 negroes, 335,192 mulatto es and a few Chinese and 
Japanese — Capital, San Juan; population, about 50,000 — 
Governor, Arthur Yager — Chief products, sugar, tobacco, 
coffee, pineapples, grapefruit, oranges, sea island cotton, 
textile fibers, phosphate and vegetables — Assessed prop- 
erty valuation, 1913, $179,271,023; public debt, $4,876,747 ; 
police force, 700 men; military force, 590 — Exports to the 
United States, 1913, $40,536,623; imports from United 
States, $33,155,005; foreign exports, $8,564,942; foreign 
imports, $3,745,057 — Highways, over 1,000 miles; railway, 
220 miles. 

CHAPTER XLII. 

FIRST GLIMPSES. 

MY INTEREST in Porto Rico dates from the turbulent 
months just preceding the Spanish-American War. At 
that time I had seen that the conflict was inevitable and had 
determined to give the readers of my papers first-hand infor- 
mation from the prospective seat of war. With this in view 
I hastened to Cuban waters and chartered the Three Friends. 
She was a filibustering steam tug that had done good work for 
the Cuban Junta, and had a record for speed. 

At the time I took command of the Three Friends her 
captain was under arrest for violation of the neutrality laws. 
The United States marshals were aboard the vessel to keep the 
captain in custody. . Even when war was declared against 
Spain no word was received from the United States authori- 
ties releasing my captain. The marshals did not know just 
what to do, and I took them to sea with me and boarded them 
during my activities in Cuban waters. 

To keep the Spaniards interested the United States fleet 
bombarded Havana occasionally, but took care to do no great 

406 



PORTO RICO 407 

damage to the city, because we knew it would soon be under 
American protection. Before our fleet landed General Miles 
and his army in Porto Rico, I headed for that island with the 
Three Friends. A general order had been issued, however, 
that no vessels were to be allowed to precede the naval flotilla, 
and I was turned back. So, you see, I was interested in Porto 
Rico before the United States flag was raised there. 

Porto Rico (rich port) is an island lying in the Atlantic 
1,420 miles southeast of New York, about 1,000 miles east 
of Key West, 1,200 miles from the Panama Canal Zone, 
and 3,450 miles from Land's End, England. It approximates 
100 miles in length, with an average width of about thirty- 
four miles. It is fourth in size of the Greater Antilles. Its 
position is peculiarly favorable for commerce, since it lies 
contiguous to the English and French Windward Islands, 
the islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John and Santa Cruz, 
and only a few days' sail from the coast of Venezuela. It 
is striking and picturesque in appearance, a kind of moun- 
tainous tropic garden, with stretches of lofty table-lands in 
the interior and fertile valleys opening out upon the surround- 
ing sea in all directions. It is well watered and one of the 
most healthful islands of the West Indies. The present popu- 
lation is estimated at 1,200,000. 

The history of Porto Rico is a strange, romantic and, in 
many respects, awful story. From the date of its discovery 
by Christopher Columbus in 1493 until it came under the 
American flag in 1898, the island was continuously a Spanish 
possession. Being a small country, only three times the size 
of our smallest State, Rhode Island, the Spaniards were able 
to keep it under the iron heel of subjection through four cen- 
turies. The people who colonized it were a mixture of 
criminals and peasant stock and accustomed to a harsh form 
of government. There were no general revolutions such as 
made Cuba often a great battlefield, although Porto Rico 
sympathized with the sister island. Once a liberating army 
from South America reached Porto Rico, but it was unsuc- 
cessful. 



408 



OUR COLONIES 



Columbus sighted the south coast November 16, 1493, then 
sailed along until he came to "the last angle in the west coast." 
Here he landed, near the present town of Aguadilla, and filled 
his casks at a spring still known as the Columbus Spring. I 
visited the spot where the great discoverer came ashore and 
found it almost as wild as when he claimed it for Ferdinand 
and Isabella. Under the palms in an open pasture stands a 
cross, a monument erected by local patriotism in 1893, that 
commemorates the momentous event. 

The natives whom Columbus found in this region some 
investigators have claimed were members of the Carib race, 

+ but this has been disputed. The best authorities 
agree that the West Indian Islands were occupied 
at the time of discovery by three races of differ- 
ent origin. The race that inhabited the Bahamas 
••■ p-M was described by Columbus as a simple, peaceful 
people whose only weapon was a sort of pointed 
cane, while the Caribs were a savage, warlike 
and cruel race who, as nearly as can be ascer- 
tained, had invaded the West Indies from South 
America by way of the Orinoco River. Cuba 
and Porto Rico and some of the other islands 
were inhabited, it is believed, by a race originat- 
ing from the southern part of North America. 
However this may be, clearly the original inhabit- 
ants of Porto Rico were powerless to 
combat the aggressions of the Span- 
iards and became their slaves. The 
story is a terrible one. Some old his- 
torians believed that there were at 
least 600,000 of these natives. I 
hardly think it possible, because twen- 
ty-five years later word was sent to 
Spain that there were not enough 
Indians left to work the mines. In 
. 1543 the Bishop of San Juan reported 

MONUMENT ON SPOT WHERE 

COLUMBUS FIRST LANDED 

NEAR AGUADILLA. 







PORTO RICO 



409 



that only sixty Indians remained on the island. The original 
number was probably 6,000 instead of 600,000. 

As was the case elsewhere, at first the Indians looked on 
the Spaniards as visitors from Heaven. They thought the 
white men were immortal, but Spanish cruelty goaded them 
into putting their theory to the test. Catching a settler named 
Salcedo, they held him under water until life was extinct. 
Then to make certain that he would not rise from the dead 
they watched beside the body for a number of days. One by 
one they were convinced by the odor of decay. When it was 
impossible to stay longer in the neighborhood they started out 
to massacre every white person on the island. 

One man escaped from a settlement on the west coast 
and made his way to Ponce de Leon, the Governor, at San 
Juan. On hearing the news, the man who was later to seek 
for the fountain of youth in Florida set about exterminating 
the natives. He killed so many that there was never any 
organized resistance afterward. In San Juan now an impos- 
ing statue is being erected to honor Ponce de Leon. In the 
illustration given on the next page may be noted a hollowed- 
out place in the pedestal. In this small place will finally lie all 




SPRING IN AGUADILLA AT WHICH COLUMBUS FILLED HIS CASKS ON 

LANDING IN I493. 



4io 



OUR COLONIES 



that is mortal of the adventurous man whose greatest wish 
was to remain forever young. 

Christopher Columbus, it is only just to say, was not 
responsible for the extermination through toil and slavery of 
the natives of Porto Rico. Columbus left the island behind 
him immediately after discovering it. Ponce de Leon, learning 
that there was gold in the streams, began the real colonization 
of the island in 1508. The natives were given into slavery 
to individual members of these 
Spanish adventurers in lots rang- 
ing from fifty to five hundred, 
according to the importance or offi- 
cial position of the individual. This 
hideous proceeding was approved 
by direct orders from the King of 
Spain. He of course got his share 
of the gold. The natives were com- 
pelled to work in the water of the 
streams and toil on the plantations. 
They were beaten and sometimes 
killed. Not being used to labor, 
they died rapidly, in fact, were 
ruthlessly exterminated by toil and 
abuse. Then the Spaniards brought 
in hundreds of slaves captured in 
Africa. And the men who did this 
considered themselves Cast i 1 i a n 
Christian gentlemen. 

However, Porto Rico was never 
exploited by Spain to the same 
extent as was Cuba. At the time 
of the American occupation Porto 
Rico had no debt. The island was wm 
ruled by a military Governor. Gen- 
eral George W. Davis in his report 
to Washington in 1902 said that 
under Spain the Government was in 

STATUE TO PONCE DE LEON IN 
CATHEDRAL, SAN JUAN. NICHE 
IN BASE IS WHERE THE BONES 
OF THE EXPLORER ARE TO REST. 




4 I2 



OUR COLONIES 



fact, though not in form, military. The Governor was the 
supreme executive, legislative and judicial authority. 

In 1870 Porto Rico was changed from a colony to a prov- 
ince of Spain. This lasted until 1874. Then it became a 
colony again, through the restoration of the Spanish monarchy. 
In 1877 a more liberal government was granted. The trouble 
here, as in other Spanish possessions, was not so much with 



the laws as with those 
The Cuban revolution 
that in 1897 Spain 
Porto Rico autonomous 
was too late. Before the 
effect the islands had 
sessions. Except for 
or French, English or 
the coast towns, the 
measurably peaceful. In 
the Caribs were 
gradually, as the years 
from the other islands 
caneers, however, were 
was one of almost 



4 



1 



\ 



who administered them, 
of 1895 became so serious 
granted both to Cuba and 
forms of government. It 
new plan could be put in 
ceased to be Spanish pos- 
the occasion when pirates, 
Dutch men-of-war harried 
island's history has been 
the early times attacks by 
frequent and cruel, but 
went on, these savages 
were silenced. The buc- 
the real pests. The age 
u n i v e r sal lawlessness, 




STATUE OF COLUMBUS IN PLAZA, SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO. 



PORTO RICO 



4i3 



breeding bands of lawless men in different quarters of the 
world. The Antilles, these warm, pleasant fruit-bearing 
islands, became infested with groups of Englishmen, French- 
men and Hollanders, all enemies of Spain, and as bloodthirsty 
a lot of human devils as ever went hunting for gold and blood. 
The groups were made up largely of human refuse from the 
seaports of northern Europe. Ostensibly they were making 
war on Spain, but the movement crystallized in red-handed 
piracy that continued through many years. The Spaniards 
were bad, the buccaneers were, if possible, worse. Signs of 
the millennium were scarce in those days. Naturally, Porto 
Rico had numerous visits from these exponents of wholesale 
grand larceny, but survived to find real and, we hope, lasting 
peace beneath the folds of the Stars and Stripes. 

When we acquired Porto Rico we had no experience as a 
colonial power. The inhabitants of the island welcomed us 
with open arms, thinking that we would give them freedom 
just as we had pledged it to Cuba. As it was necessary to 
give some form of government to the island, an act of Con- 







'•.;, v • ' 9 








^J 


haL_ i - 




'■'-- 




llll i 


■ -j Jj 


V* 


j 


% 


mmm 






... 








x 


JUR-v' 'til J&k* ^ _^^Bte 






i 


U^maMI'S 


■f 







HON. GEORGE R. C0LT0N, FORMER GOVERNOR OF PORTO RICO. 
MUCH OF THE GOOD WORK IN THE ISLAND WAS ACCOM- 
PLISHED UNDER HIS ADMINISTRATION. 



414 



OUR COLONIES 



gress, drawn by Senator Foraker, was passed in 1900. The 
Foraker Act, regarded by its f ramer as only temporary, is still 
the "Constitution" of Porto 
Rico. Although outgrown, noth- 
ing better has been offered. 

The Government is vested in a 
Governor, appointed by the Pres- 
ident, and a Legislature with an 
upper and a lower elective house, 
The latter is entirely Porto 
Rican. The majority in the 
upper house is composed of 
Americans, who are also heads 
of important departments, ap- 
pointed by the President. Thus 
control is always maintained 
through the power of the Ameri- 
can members of the Senate to 
reject or change legislation pro- 
posed by the other house. 

The un-American part of this 
system is that in the cases of the 
American members of the upper 
house one man is both legislator 
and executive. The secretary 

of education, for example, will have a hand in making an edu- 
cational law, then he will be the person to enforce the law he 
himself has made. In the United States we are careful to 
keep the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the 
Government entirely separate. 

The Porto Ricans are anxious for a larger measure of self- 
government immediately. Ultimately they seek independence 
under American protection or admission to the Union as a 
State. The Americans resident in Porto Rico have the same 
point of view that I have : it would not be the part of wisdom 
for us to surrender the Government entirely into their hands, 
since they are of a different civilization, not looking upon 




HON. ARTHUR YAGER, PRESENT GOV- 
ERNOR OF PORTO RICO. 



PORTO RICO 



4i5 



matters of Government in the same light as the Anglo-Saxon. 
They really have no conception of the true meaning of equality 
and liberty. Political orators say one thing to the American 
and quite another thing when addressing an audience of Porto 
Ricans. They take delight in insulting us. Call them to 
account afterward and they say that they did not mean it, that 
their oratorical exaggeration was responsible. Yet the apology 
is made privately and the ignorant mass of the people are not 
undeceived. Nearly every American I met said that he would 
have to leave the island by the first boat were it given inde- 
pendence. 

The towns have their own self-government, but the police 
are under an American chief who has his headquarters in San 
Juan. There is a regiment of Porto Rican infantry that is a 
credit to its American officers. The Government was willing 
to admit men below the height required in the American army, 
because the Porto Ricans were supposed to be shorter in stat- 
ure. There was no need for this, however. All except one 
company are stationed at San Juan. This one is at Cayey, in 
the center of the island. It can thus be sent on short notice to 
any point where trouble threatens. 

We cannot teach the Porto Ricans anything about practical 
politics. At an election I heard of, the price of a vote was 
$3. The voters received a pair of shoes worth $2 and a hat 
worth $1. Looking down from a hotel balcony at the elec- 
tion crowd, the new white straw hats stood out among the 
dingy, discolored ones like daisies thickly scattered in a field of 




SNAPSHOT OF NATIVE VOTERS NEAR A POLLING PLACE AT 
MAYAGUEZ, PORTO RICO. 



416 



OUR COLONIES 




CELEBRATING A UNIONIST VICTORY AT MAYAGUEZ, PORTO RICO. 



brown. One firm was said to have had orders for $600 worth 
of merchandise the day before the election. There is no more 
voting in country districts. The voters are brought into the 
towns, because supervision was impossible at remote places. 
One party would surround the polls and only let its side vote. 

Ten years ago it was worse. One side would even seize a 
town. At Patillas one election day the party in control of the 
town stood in respectful attitudes with hats off, while a funeral 
made its way toward the church. In the middle of the plaza 
the coffin was set down. Throwing back the lid those nearest 
began to hand out the guns, revolvers and machetes it con- 
cealed. In fifteen minutes twelve men were dead. Thanks 
to this stratagem, those on the outside forced their opponents 
to change places with them. 

As was the case in all countries under Spanish rule, the 
Roman Catholic was formerly the State religion. Since the 



PORTO RICO 417 

American occupation there has been no bond between Church 
and State. The present head of the Church is Bishop William 
A. Jones. He is a native of New York State, and for a num- 
ber of years was stationed in Cuba. As I found in my South 
American travels, the Catholic Church in Spanish countries 
differs from that in the United States. Bishop Jones believes 
that one of his big problems is the Americanizing of his clergy 
in Porto Rico. 

"Outside of Arizona and New Mexico," he told me, "there 
are probably not more than twenty priests in the United States 
who speak Spanish. For that reason you can see that it is 
slow work. Since 95 per cent of the people here are of my 
faith, I am kept busy trying to visit every parish at least once 
a year. My church in Porto Rico is very poor, indeed, and we 
have to leave education largely to the Government. Where 
a man and his family may not make $100 a year, we cannot 
expect him to be a heavy contributor to the church. " 

Since the American occupation the Protestant churches have 
established many mission schools. In these education is largely 
along industrial lines. All the larger towns have Protestant 
churches. Usually the services are in Spanish, except one 
Sunday in the month. Some churches have both Spanish and 
English services each Sunday, at different hours, which is a 
wise and generous proceeding. 



28 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

PORTO RICO'S PEOPLE. 

ONCE upon a time a historian wrote of the English people 
that they were like a barrel of beer — foam at the top 
and dregs at the bottom, but with a good substantial liquor in 
between. I cannot say that of the Porto Ricans, because there 
is practically no middle class; and neither can the upper class 
be called foam nor the lower class dregs. There is a distinct 
line of cleavage between the two, and the peasant under the 
Spanish rule always felt that there was absolutely no chance 
of lifting himself out of the peon class. He had to be con- 
tent. He seems measurably content today. 

Less than 10 per cent of the population of Porto Rico live 
in towns of over 8,000. In these larger places there is of 
course a middle class of artisans and clerks, but these are few 
in number. 




AMERICAN HOMES NEAR SAN JUAN. AS WITH ALL HOUSES IN 
PORTO RICO, THERE IS NO GLASS IN WINDOWS, 
ONLY SHUTTERS. 
418 



PORTO RICO 



419 



San Juan, the capital, was built upon an island, but now 
is connected with the mainland by a bridge over the narrow, 
shallow channel. There is an American colony at Santurce, 
a fashionable suburb southeast of the city. Here they rejoice 
in an American butcher who does not send a square of beef 
when the housewife orders tenderloin steak. To the Spanish 
butcher meat is meat, and he cuts it off almost at random. 
There are several pretty American suburbs about San Juan. 




SOME REAL NATIVES OF THE INTERIOR, PORTO RICO. 



In the country live the vast majority of the people; the 
small upper class of planters and the large lower class of 
peons or pharos. The former have suffered from crop fail- 
ures and consequent financial reverses, but those who managed 
to live through the hard times are now in comfortable circum- 
stances. The planter has been nearly as improvident as is the 
jibaro. He was accustomed to mortgage his next year's crop 
in order to go to Madrid or Paris, where he would live like a 



420 



OUR COLONIES 



lord as long as his money lasted, or until he had to come home 
to gather the next crop of cane, tobacco or coffee. Unfor- 
tunately, Porto Rico had several bad years in succession, and 
the banks had to foreclose many of their mortgages after 
carrying the planters for two or three seasons. Some who 
were once wealthy now live with their former peons. 

The physical and mental characteristics of the masses of 
the people are not easily described. Consider that during the 
early years of colonization no Spanish females came to Porto 
Rico, but soldiers, marines, monks and adventurers ; these bred 
with the Indians ; then negroes, almost exclusively males, were 
brought in, and these, too, bred with the Indians and the 
offspring of Spaniards and Indians ; then came negro women 
from Santo Domingo and added to the ''mongrel mess." Obvi- 
ously, to tell "which is which" at the present day is not easy. 
From the original blend of Indian, negro and Castilian stock, 
and later crossings and recrossings, have come what are gener- 
ally called pharos, the Porto Rican peasants. 

The jibaro leads an extremely simple life. It is difficult 




A NATIVE PORTO RICAN CABIN, PATCHED WITH BARK OF ROYAL 
PALMS AND THATCHED WITH PALM LEAVES. 



PORTO RICO 



421 



for Americans to understand him, since they belong to different 
civilizations. He is extremely poor, but he is extremely proud. 
While he is accused of working only four days a week, it must 
be remembered that he has no incentive beyond providing for 
a day-to-day existence. The landed proprietors do not permit 
the peons to own real estate, and they can be dispossessed from 
their wretched huts on short notice. What incentive is there 
for a man to take pride in a home from which he may be 
driven at any time ? 

Domestic labor is cheap in Porto Rico. In San Juan the 
usual wages of a cook is six dollars a month. One man I 
knew paid ten dollars, but his friends complained that he was 
making other cooks dissatisfied. Every one in San Juan who 
wishes to work is at work. Prices are high and the town is 
prosperous. Every day the street railway carries over 16,000 
passengers. 

The American occupation has brought about great changes 
for the laborer. Living conditions are being bettered and he 
receives a higher wage. When our troops landed, laborers on 




A WAYSIDE STORE. 



ALMOST EVERY MILE OF ROAD IN PORTO RICO 
HAS SUCH A STORE. 



422 OUR COLONIES 

plantations received thirty cents a day. The average now is 
seventy-five cents a day. The actual earning power, or 
efficiency, of "colored" labor has been more than doubled by 
better food and conditions and the dethroning of the hook- 
worm. This to a large degree has been accomplished by the 
scientific methods of the so-called Sugar Trust and Tobacco 
Trust, which have very large interests in the island. They 
have "speeded up" the negro, you observe. The question is, 
Can the tropical negro stand the pressure? The Spaniards 
"speeded up" the indolent native Indians in early times and 
the Indians died like flies. However, present conditions are 
more favorable, no doubt, for the survival of the negroes and 
jibaros of Porto Rico. Nevertheless, things in this possession 
of ours are not wholly as they should be. For example, most 
of the States of the Union have passed laws against company 
and plantation stores, but they still flourish in Porto Rico. 
The laborer merely gets credit, and at the end of the season he 
is fortunate if he is not in debt to the store. 

Usually only a penny's worth of anything is bought at a 
time, the most expensive method of buying. When she goes 
to the store the peasant woman will buy one cent's worth of 
sugar or one cent's worth of rice. In the course of a day 
should she need five cents' worth of rice, she would send a 
child five times or go herself. Perhaps she goes on the theory 
of the man who refused to buy a cornsheller for his hogs with 
the remark, "What's time to a hog?" No one in Porto Rico 
is ever in a hurry. 

There never is a time here when you are out of sight of 
some human habitation. There seldom was a time that I could 
not, on looking about me, see some human being. With 320 
inhabitants to the square mile, Porto Rico is one of the most 
densely populated spots on the globe. Thirty per cent of the 
population are under ten years of age, a greater percentage 
than any other civilized country in the world. Notwithstand- 
ing the wonderful work of the American physicians, only 10 
per cent are over fifty years. In the United States the per- 
centage is 13.4. 



PORTO RICO 



423 



The customs and morals of every country are largely the 
product of geographical and climatic conditions. In Porto 
Rico we can attribute much of the present civilization to the 
island's formation. It is a mountainous country surrounded 
by a coastal plain never more than five miles in width. Upon 
this fringe of coast the population is mixed in character, 
because the negro loves the hot lowlands. Back in the moun- 
tains the whites have been more successful in maintaining their 
purity of blood. 




MR. BOYCE EXAMINING CACTUS IN THE MOUNTAINS. 



424 



OUR COLONIES 



The Porto Rico peon is ordinarily a peaceful man. He 
never molests an American. I have been alone in the poorest 
quarters of the towns and upon the wildest mountain trails, 
yet have never experienced the least fear nor had the slightest 
trouble. They fight sometimes among themselves, using their 
machetes. These are knives used for cutting cane, the sharp, 
heavy blades being about two feet long. Once two men 
were caught by the police fighting a duel upon the public high- 
way. Although one man had his face cut to ribbons, he 
begged the officer to let the fight go on, as it was "purely a 
private affair." They were first taken to the hospital and 
then to jail. 

I asked many persons what good things there were in the 
Spanish civilization as I found it in Porto Rico that could be 
adopted profitably by Americans. Invariably the reply was, 

"Their unfailing 
p o 1 i t eness and 
courtesy." The 
poorest coun try 
man will make 
you welcome, 
dividing with you 
his simple repast 
of rice or beans. 




mm^^^mm 


^^^F^' 


' .y t f yyiai 


He will go miles 




*--Vw 


out of his way to 


1 i : "iImBS"- $ '5 




set you upon the 


' ' "r- '' ' '"".:- :; ' : 


j : ; 1 ~ 


right road, and 






feel hurt if you 






seek to recom- 






pense him for his 




" , *%^ 


trouble. That sort ■ 


iefefa, ...i^^QM^HHHMB^SSiiSQBtKSK^HIHHHSH 



WAYSIDE SCENES IN PORTO RICO. 



PORTO RICO 425 

of thing is not very common in the United States, is it? With 
us the hand seems always itching for a tip. Possession is the 
prime American motive. No doubt you remember the instance 
of the young lady who, after adjusting her finery, descended 
the stairs to the parlor and found the family pet sitting upon 
the knee of the young man caller, her curly head nestled com- 
fortably against his shoulder. 

"Why, Mabel," the young lady exclaimed, "aren't you 
ashamed of yourself ! Get right down." 

"Sha'n't do it," retorted the child. "I got here first." The 
true American spirit. 

Before the American occupation of Porto Rico marriage 
was such an expense that few of the lower class were able to 
pay for the ceremony, a religious function. As there were no 
civil marriages, the contracting parties were bound by nothing 
more formal than their promises to each other. These were 
religiously kept. By an edict, Governor William H. Hunt 
legalized all these unions in 1902. Any couple can now get 
married anywhere on the island as cheaply as in the United 
States. 

In the poorer part of a town all the landlord provides is 
the ground. The tenant builds his own house out of thatch, 
wooden soap boxes or tin from gasoline cans. The ground 
rent is from fifty cents to four dollars a month. As twenty 
of these one-room houses can be crowded upon an acre of 
ground, it can be seen that the landowner has a steady income 
without troubling over repairs or insurance. If the tenant 
does not pay his rent he is thrown out. On the plantations no 
rent is paid, but the peon builds his own hut. What he grows 
on a patch of ground about it belongs to him. He is also 
given his bananas. 

The diet of a Porto Rican of the lower class is extremely 
simple. The meal corresponding to our breakfast consists of 
a cup of strong coffee and possibly a piece of bread. With 
no other food to sustain him the laborer works from dawn 
until eleven o'clock. Then he has a more substantial meal of 
codfish and some one Porto Rican vegetable, such as the 



426 



OUR COLONIES 



batata, a sweet potato. About the middle of the afternoon he 
may have more black coffee. When he reaches his hut at 
nightfall he has his big meal of the day. This consists of rice, 
codfish and whatever vegetable may be ripe. 

Although the jibaro is fond of pork, not many are fore- 
handed enough to keep a pig. In one little settlement I visited, 
only one family had enough money or enough foresight to go 
to the market town and buy a suckling pig for one dollar. 
When this had been raised and fattened it was either eaten, 
or sold for twelve or fourteen dollars. 

I sat with a family of these people one evening and listened 
to their conversation. The talk was not inspiring, confined 
principally to plantation topics. It had to do with boasts of 
how much more cane the head of the family could cut than could 
a neighbor, and how much more coffee he could pick. The 
affairs of the plantation owner were also discussed ; but as for 
talk of the outside world, there was none. Thanks to the 
schools, conditions are improving. Another generation will 
put the peon on a far higher intellectual plane. 

Notwithstanding his hookworm troubles and his day-to- 
day existence, the peasant is not an unhappy fellow. He is 
bound to those of his class both by ties of blood and that of 
compadre or godfather. An orphan or a widow finds shelter 
in the meanest neighbor's home. The jibaro looks to the 

planter for guidance and 
protection. He regards 
himself as dependent upon 
those in authority over 
him. 

It is just as natural 
for a native to put his 
burden on his head as it 
is for a baby to put its toe 
in its mouth. As they 
passed me, I was remind- 
ed of the long train of 
—j negroes I employed for 

TYPICAL STREET OF AN INTERIOR VILLAGE, 
PORTO RICO. 




PORTO RICO 427 

my African safari. Here in Porto Rico, however, they have 
not reduced their clothing to a minimum, although away from 
the main roads the inhabitants are more careless in their dress. 
The garments of both men and women do not differ from 
the summer clothing of the poorest Americans. What is dif- 
ferent is the usual lack of shoes. The Union party intends to 
introduce a bill for the purchase of 200,000 pairs of shoes. 
These will be given to the jibaros, and thereafter a man found 
going barefoot will be subjected to a fine. This will prevent 
the spread of hookworm. 

I first went from San Juan to Ponce by way of the Govern- 
ment road around the east coast. The towns through which 
I passed were of remarkable sameness. There was usually a 
plaza. Facing it were the church, the municipal buildings and 
the stores. Above the stores were residences. 

In most Porto Rican towns there is no one quarter better 
than another. A millionaire sugar planter may have a family 
of peons next door to him. He may live upstairs, and rent 
the first floor as a grocery store or bicycle shop. Most houses 
are built to the pavement line. In place of front yards there 
are patios, inclosed courtyards, at the back. Here the families 
congregate. In short, the architectural style is Spanish. 

In the homes of the better class, because of tropical condi- 
tions, housekeeping is far different from that in the States. 
As the insects would infest carpets, draperies and closets, the 
Porto Rican householder must do without the luxuries. The 
floors are often of Spanish tile. Instead of sweeping, you 
merely turn on the hose in your parlor. No food supplies are 
bought for more than the one day. Each morning a servant 
goes to market and returns with what things are needed. The 
cooking is done over an open charcoal fire. On arising, as in 
the case of the peon, coffee and bread are served. Sometimes 
butter, imported from outside, is added. The American will 
have eggs, also, because he is not accustomed to so light 
a breakfast. The next meal comes at about 11 130 a. m., and 
is a substantial repast. Then there follows the tropical siesta 
before work is resumed. The evening meal is at six o'clock. 



428 



OUR COLONIES 



It is remarkable for the number of meats. (I am of course 
speaking of the wealthier class.) Potatoes are only a garnish 
for meat. Rice and beans are served the year around at noon 
and night. Most other vegetables are bought canned. 

On the way from San Juan to Ponce by the east coast are 
two large sugar centrals or mills. The one at Fajardo is 
owned by New York capitalists. That at Aguirre is owned 
in Boston. Both are little empires. The former has forty- 
five miles of railway to and in its cane-fields. It owns 25,000 
acres and rents as many more for cane and grazing purposes. 
In addition, it buys cane from other planters. The vastness of 
the enterprise may be judged from the fact that good cane land 
is worth $300 an acre and a mill may cost from three-quarters 
to a million dollars. Aguirre grinds all the cane grown 
between Guayama and Ponce. It is the second largest mill on 
the island and has several thousand acres of irrigated land 
worth up to $500 an acre. The mill at Fajardo is the third 
largest. 

Among the towns between these two centrals is Humacao. 




A SUGAR MILL, FAJARDO, PORTO RICO. 



PORTO RICO 



429 




A TRAIN LOADED WITH CANE„ 




HOMES OF OFFICIALS OF THE FAJARDO SUGAR COMPANY. 



430 OUR COLONIES 

It has 8,000 inhabitants and not a bank. Money is sent to San 
Juan, forty-five miles away, for deposit. The rate of interest 
here, as it is in most United States colonies, is 12 per cent a 
year, payable 1 per cent a month. Another town nearby is 
Guayama. It is the terminus of a Government road over the 
mountains to connect the Military Road and San Juan. This 
cleft through the mountains, known as Guayama Pass, is one 
of the most beautiful roads in Porto Rico. 

I went up the pass as far as Jajome Alto, the official sum- 
mer home of the Governor. This is at the highest point of the 
pass, 2,400 feet above sea level. The view is exquisite. The 
valley is devoted to the cultivation of tobacco, and cheesecloth 
to protect it from the sun is spread above it like a vast canopy. 
It makes the fields appear as if covered with snow, and is very 
picturesque. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 



DR. B. 



HOOKWORM AND PLAGUE. 

WHEN the United States Government took over the Pan- 
ama Canal Zone, the first thing the Government did 
was to make it fit to live in. The first thing the United States 
did when it took over Porto Rico was to begin the work of 
improving conditions so that nearly a million of dirty peo- 
ple crowded on the island at that time could live longer, and 
that our white American officials might escape death in doing 
their duty. 

Thousands of Porto Ricans are alive today who would have 
died had it not been for the effective measures taken by the 
United States health officials. In their work on the island, 
which is one of the most densely populated places on the globe, 
these officials have successfully battled the hookworm, the 
bubonic plague, malaria and other scourges which had fastened 

themselves on the people. 
Like the other islands of 
the West Indies, Porto 
Rico has been menaced 
by leprosy, but this peril 
has now been guarded 
against. Yellow fever has 
been wiped from the list 
of Porto Rican plagues by 
our quarantine service ; 
smallpox has been driven 
out by the army, which in 
the days of the United 
States military Govern- 
ment vaccinated virtually 
the entire population. 




K. ASH FORD, 
HOOKWORM 



DISCOVERER OF THE 
IN PORTO RICO. 
431 



432 OUR COLONIES 

When the dreadful toll formerly taken by disease is con- 
sidered, it can be seen that for nearly four hundred years 
historical writers had slandered the people of Porto Rico. 
Lazy many of them undoubtedly are, but the natives as a class 
have not deserved the stigma of indolence and sloth that 
observers from other lands have put upon them. Instead of 
being lazy they were the victims of an insidious disease. This 
disease is popularly known as hookworm, or anemia. It is 
preeminently caused by filth in hot climates. It is believed that 
the hookworm was brought to Porto Rico from Europe as 
early as 1530. It is still found in some parts of the European 
Continent and it is also distributed throughout our Southern 
States. In our country the danger is not so much from the 
possibility of death as from that of incapacity to labor. A 
person afflicted with hookworm cannot do hard work. 

The most disastrous cyclone in the history of Porto Rico 
swept the island August 8, 1899. The anti-American senti- 
ment was so extreme at that time that some of the people even 
blamed us for the cyclone. Since people were starving, the 
Government immediately established camps and distributed 
provisions. In command of one camp was Dr. Bailey K. 
Ashford, an army surgeon. Soon he saw that something other 
than hunger was the matter with the people. He discovered 
the trouble — it was hookworm. An attempt was made to rob 
him of the credit for the discovery of the scourge and its 
remedy, but now the medical world has acknowledged that 
civilization has him to thank for its conquest of a dangerous 
disease. 

"In 1900 thirty per cent of all the deaths in Porto Rico 
were due to hookworm," Dr. Ashford says. "The death rate 
at that time was forty-two per thousand. It is now only 
twenty-two per thousand, since we are also combating other 
diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis. I believe that 800,- 
000 out of a population, at that time, of 950,000 were afflicted 
with the hookworm. Since the average anemic peon could do 
only half his normal amount of work, you can see how great 
an annual loss there was both to the laborer and to the island 
itself. 



PORTO RICO 



433 







30' "la ^^ST/ x r "^V 




-■^iJtffcMi ■*y ^H 


xJm-f:* ■ '* <£ - ''[ %d / " iv 






1 r ;/#.#r 





SNAPSHOT OF COFFEE BERRIES ON A PORTO RICAN PLANTATION. 



"The hookworm enters the body through the soles of the 
feet from infested soil. Those who work on coffee plantations 
are the most liable to contract the disease, because here are 
found ideal conditions for its transmission. The coffee groves 
are well shaded and usually undrained. Above all, the coffee 
must be frequently worked, thus requiring many laborers. 

"The peon has a constitution weakened by the damp and 
chilling winds. He has insufficient clothing, and insufficient 
and improper food. How can a man buy shoes, when the 
wages of an entire family may not be more than $ioo a year? 
Shoes are an impossible luxury. Hundreds of barefoot labor- 
ers, therefore, congregate daily in the coffee groves. There 
have been practically no sanitary conveniences, and thus in 
time the laborer, tramping about everywhere, was certain to be 
brought in contact with the disease. If the plantation owners 
were forced to build water-closets, and the laborers forced to 
use them, there would be no hookworm in Porto Rico, in our 
Southern States, or anywhere else. 

"The owner of the coffee plantation also was losing money. 



434 OUR COLONIES 

Even when he only paid thirty cents a day — in 1904 — he was 
not getting its equivalent in labor. From that date to 1910, 
inclusive, under the direction of the Medical Corps of the 
United States Army 300,000 hookworm cases were treated. In 
Aibonito, a mountain district with 8,598 inhabitants, every 
person was treated for this disease. 

"Unless checked, the feeling of lassitude noticeable in the 
first stages of the disease gives way to actual inability to work. 
The patient may linger a long time in this absolutely useless 
condition. The cure consists principally of a powerful purga- 
tive. In five or six weeks the patient should be restored to 
health. If properly treated all the worms should be out of his 
system by that time." 

Dr. Ashford is now a major in the Medical Corps with 
headquarters in San Juan. 

And yet the Porto Rican is not wholly happy or satisfied 
with us, notwithstanding all we have done for him. There 
has been a saving of hundreds of thousands of dollars and 
many lives through the efficient manner in which American 
doctors have handled the bubonic plague. Yet the ignorant 
people could not see the need for cleaning their premises and 
killing the rats that might harbor the plague. The landlords 
protested loudly against rat-proofing their buildings. 

Hit a man in his pocketbook and you hit him very close to 
his heart. For a couple of years, at least, there had been 
plague in the Canary Islands. Instead of trying to clean up 
there, the Spanish Government promptly pigeonholed the 
plague report, and let the world take its chances of being 
caught in the grip of a terrible epidemic. When the United 
States and Cuba began to suspect the Canaries, a Cuban inves- 
tigator went to Madrid. He bribed an official and thus saw 
the document setting before the Government the existence of 
the plague. 

As soon as the plague was discovered the Government sent 
to Porto Rico Dr. R. H. Creel, who had done valuable plague 
work on the Pacific Coast. This was in the latter part of 
June, 1912. The plague is called a "rat disease'' because of 



PORTO RICO 



435 



the activity of the little animals in spreading it. A rat catches 
the plague from another rat. A flea bites the rat. Then the 
flea bites a human being, thus transmitting the disease. Three 
out of five persons who catch the plague die of it. Dr. Creel 
immediately began a determined war on the rat. He began 
to rat-proof, rat-poison and rat-trap. 

Forty trappers worked in San Juan alone with 3,000 rat 
traps. They put out six or seven hundred pounds of poison. 
Twenty-five thousand rats were examined in the San Juan 
laboratory. A rat catcher is paid seventy-five cents a day and 
a bonus of ten cents for every rat he brings in. There were 
fifty-six cases of bubonic in San Juan, the last one September 
13, 1912. About that time the last plague rat the investigators 
have been able to capture was brought into the laboratory. 
San Juan today is declared by the health officers to be more 
nearly rat-proof than any seaport of which 
they know. All establishments such as 
groceries, warehouses, markets and res- 
taurants have been made rat-proof by con- 
crete floors, with concrete walls extending 
two feet into the ground. Dwellings have 
either been elevated or have been protected 
from rats by concrete. Rats that may carry 
the plague infest the thatched roofs of the 
native huts. For that reason the Govern- 
ment prohibits such roofs. The price of 
lumber makes shingles out of the question 
and the use of iron sheeting is becoming 
general. A cheaper and better roofing 
would be tarred and saturated roofing 
papers, like that made by the General Roof- 
ing Company of East St. Louis, Illinois. 

At Humacao people still talk of an epi- 
sode in which Dr. J. W. Brice, the American 
health officer there, played a leading part. 
Word came from Playa de Humacao that a 
schooner anchored off shore was flying 

AN OFFICIAL RAT CATCH- 
ER, PORTO RICO. 




436 OUR COLONIES 

signals of distress. According to law the first person who 
could visit the vessel was the quarantine officer, in this case Dr. 
Brice. He put off in a yawl and went aboard in a driving 
tropical rain. The boat prove to be The Success from St. 
Kitts, Danish West Indies, under command of Captain William 
Broadbelt, an Englishman. 

"I told the captain to line his people up so that I could 
make my health inspection," said Dr. Brice, in telling the story. 
"There were a number huddled together in the bow, all bent 
over with their heads covered from the rain. Captain Broad- 
belt merely said that he could do nothing with them, and I 
went forward to get them into line. Lifting up the coffee sack 
that covered one, I was shocked to find that I was gazing upon 
a leper. In the group there were six others — all lepers. Imme- 
diately I told Captain Broadbelt that I could not let him land 
because he had on board this dread contagious disease. 

" 'Then we are all doomed,' he answered. 'The Success 
struck a rock off the southern end of Vieques and stove a hole 
in her side. I put in here because we are sinking.' 

"Here was a dilemma indeed. There were thirty pas- 
sengers altogether, including the lepers. They and the crew 
were prisoners on a sinking ship. The law would not let them 
land, and I could not see them drown. When the townspeople 
learned of the leper ship there was a veritable panic in Huma- 
cao. I was besieged on all sides not to let them come ashore 
Finally I found a way out of the difficulty. There is a small 
uninhabited island in the harbor and on its shore I had the 
boat beached. Here the prisoners of The Success were 
guarded during the eighteen days required to repair the vessel 
and get her out of my jurisdiction. 

"Strangest of all is how Captain Broadbelt happened to 
have his leper passengers. Just as he was about to sail for St. 
Kitts from San Pedro de Macoris, San Domingo, these lepers 
were brought down to the ship under guard of a squad of 
soldiers. Broadbelt was informed that they had come origi- 
nally from St. Kitts and that as the Dominican Government 
did not wish to take care of them he would have to take them 



PORTO RICO 437 

back. Since the Dominican order was made at the point of 
the bayonet, the captain was forced to comply. Then had come 
the added misfortune of shipwreck off Vieques. 

"When the hole in her side had been patched up, The Success 
was towed into deep water where she immediately keeled over. 
Here was another delay while the revenue cutter Algonquin 
was sent for to right her and bail her out. Altogether Huma- 
cao acted as unwilling host for eighteen days. Finally the ship 
sailed away and what happened to her after that the town has 
never learned." 

In talking with leading physicians I was told that tubercu- 
losis claims more lives in Porto Rico than any other disease. 
It is especially prevalent in the cities and towns. I did not 
marvel at it, because of the manner in which many of the peo- 
ple live. To bring it home to you, let me picture it in this 
fashion : Take your small woodshed on a hot August night, 
board up the one window, close and bolt the door. Then make 
six or eight people pass the night in that small space. The 
result is inevitable. Where one falls a victim to tuberculosis, 
it follows that almost without exception the others are doomed. 
They said in the towns that they closed and bolted the doors 
because they were afraid of robbers. 

In years past the little town of Barceloneta had the reputa- 
tion of being the worst malarial spot on the island. A few 
years ago in this municipality — which corresponds to a county 
in the United States — there was an average of 500 cases of 
malaria a month and fifty deaths. Now the worst month does 
not develop more than twenty-five cases, and none of these 
results in death. 

For these changed conditions the inhabitants have to thank 
a Porto Rican health officer, Dr. R. C. Vergne. He is a recent 
graduate of Syracuse University, and has brought to his work 
the latest American scientific training. 

"When I looked at the town closely," Dr. Vergne said, 
"I did not wonder that it was afflicted with malaria. Breeding 
spots for mosquitoes were everywhere. In some cases I had 
to threaten certain persons with punishment as the United 



438 OUR COLONIES 

States Government administers it before they would mosquito- 
proof their barrels, wells and drains. The town has even cut 
down its banana trees, because right where the leaf joins the 
trunk a cup is formed that holds rain water. It is the ideal 
place for a malarial mosquito to raise a large family." 

Rum, too, has weakened the natives of Porto Rico. Some 
of the vile stuff they drink is like the miserable gin sold in 
parts of the United States, which has well earned for itself 
the name "Aviator's Booze" — one drop and you die. 

As might naturally be supposed, the cemetery is an impor- 
tant part of Porto Rican life — or rather, death. It is the cus- 
tom to rent tombs, and at one cemetery I was told of an 
incident that happened recently. A man came over from the 
island of St. Thomas to visit his grandmother's grave. When 
he arrived at the cemetery he was horrified to find the care- 
taker sweeping out the tomb in which she had reposed. 

"What are you doing?" demanded the man, hotly. 

"Well," replied the caretaker, "you didn't send money for 
the rent and I have just rented this tomb to some one else. I 
have just thrown your grandmother's bones on the bone pile." 

In a dilapidated tomb the only thing I could see was a set 
of false teeth. I was told that a pleasant profession is the 
stealing of wreaths from tombs and selling them again. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

PORTO RICO'S SCHOOLS. 

LOOKING into an old Spanish fort at Aguadilla, Porto 
Rico, near where Christopher Columbus is reported to 
have landed in 1493, one sees blackboards and desks and little 
Porto Ricans busy with their lessons. The fort has been 
transformed into a schoolhouse, the change being indicative of 
the difference between the two civilizations. The Spaniards 
came centuries ago with swords and guns. The Americans 
came a few years ago with schools. 

When the United States took over Porto Rico in 1898 there 
were 528 public schools, with an actual attendance of 18,243. 
The teachers and their families lived in rented school buildings. 
The teachers were subject to no efficiency tests and were inad- 
equately and irregularly paid. Now there are 3,000 schools 







IMP ■ 5#"™ll ■"• P^M|fe 



A CLASS OF PORTO RICAN SCHOOL CHILDREN. 
439 



44Q 



OUR COLONIES 



on the island, with an average daily attendance of 118,000. In 
191 3 the Legislative Assembly voted an extra million dollars 
for education, which will permit of the employment of 800 
additional teachers and provide accommodations for at least 
30,000 more pupils. Over 300 night schools have been estab- 
lished, and at some of them trades are taught, including 
carpentry, bricklaying, plumbing and automobile mechanics. 

As those of you who are familiar with the history of the 
Spanish War will remember, the Porto Ricans looked upon us 
as liberators. They thought that we had come to free them 
as we have freed the Cubans. Events have since shown that 




A TYPICAL GROUP OF SCHOOL TEACHERS, MAYAGUEZ, PORTO RICO. 



PORTO RICO 44i 

it would be better for Cuba today if we had not given up con- 
trol over the island. As a race the Porto Ricans are polite 
and hospitable and I am sorry to say that in many cases after 
the war their kindness was grossly imposed upon. Sharpers 
who trailed the American troops took advantage of the unsus- 
pecting natives and caused no small part of the anti-American 
sentiment, which is now dying out except for the fanning of 
the cooling embers by political agitators. To save the good 
name of the United States, on more than one occasion the 
Governor has rounded up tricksters and vagabonds and shipped 
them to New York, and an American tramp is now seldom 
found on the island. If we cannot be proud of some of the 
Americans who inflicted themselves on Porto Rico, we can 
take pride in the greater number who are now there, and 
especially our school teachers. We traveled entirely around 
Porto Rico and several times across it, and failed to find an 
American school teacher who was not a credit to our country. 
They are a fine set of young men and women and the good 
they are doing is incalculable. 

Here is something that will surprise the boy and girl readers 
of this book : Every teacher who has had experience both in 
the United States and Porto Rico said that he preferred to 
teach the Porto Rican children. The teachers explained that the 
children of Porto Rico seemed more eager to learn than chil- 
dren of the United States, and that they are even brighter. I 
questioned the soundness of this view, but, as the children in a 
class are usually older than in a corresponding class in the 
United States, I believe the difference in years itself really 
makes a difference in the ease with which they learn. 

Some mistakes have marked the establishing of our schools 
in Porto Rico, but improvement is being made every year. 
The city schools are the equals of any in the States. The 
secret of this is that the schools are directly under Government 
control. English is the language of the schoolroom (except 
for a daily lesson in Spanish grammar), after the fourth grade. 
It has now been decided that the recitations in the lower 
grades are all to be given in English as soon as possible. 



44^ 



OUR COLONIES 



The first day upon which the little child now comes to 
school in Porto Rico the work of making an English-speaking 
American citizen out of him begins. It is all done uncon- 
sciously, in the form of play. Everything is dramatized and 
acted. "Come away, let us play," sings the teacher. Then 
the children play a while, to associate the idea with the words. 
"Run with me to the tree" is the next jingle. Taking a child 




HIGH SCHOOL CLASS. ROOSEVELT SCHOOL, MAYAGUEZ, PORTO RICO. 

by the hand, she runs to a tree in the school yard. It is in 
this fashion the children learn our language. Of course clean- 
liness is insisted upon. Illustrative of the difficulties encoun- 
tered in this direction a teacher told me how one day she said 
to one of the little fellows : "Juan, your face is fairly clean, 
but how did you get your hands so dirty?" 
"Washin' my face," was the reply. 



PORTO RICO 443 

The same teacher related that one day she overheard an 
extraordinary explanation of the source of human language. 
A little girl was turning the leaves of a dictionary when she 
looked up and asked: "How did there come to be so many 
words in the world ?" 

"Oh," replied a ten-year-old boy, with sudden inspiration, 
"they come through folks quarreling. You know, one word 
brings on another !" 

The Porto Rican teachers must pass examinations in Eng- 
lish. The trouble with the English of the children is that often 
it is learned from a native teacher who still speaks with a 
foreign accent. This makes the pupil's English sound arti- 
ficial. But, as Americans have been at work for more than 
twelve years teaching school in Porto Rico, there is not a place 
on the island where some young person cannot be found to 
interpret for you. 

The form of salutation in Porto Rico is "Adios." Literally 
translated, this means "Good-by." Whenever a child meets 
you and wishes to open a conversation he usually begins by 
saying, "Good-by." All over the island I was greeted with 
smiles and "Good-bys." As is natural, Spanish is used almost 
exclusively outside the schoolroom. We are doing as well as 
can be expected, but it will be forty or fifty years probably 
before we can hope to have English in anything like general 
use. 

The greatest stumbling block is the home life. Just as 
many Carlisle Indian students revert to their blankets and 
ancestral ways on returning to the reservation, the school chil- 
dren of Porto Rico drop back to their Spanish civilization at 
home. How we are to graft what is best in American life to 
this Spanish stock and make it grow is going to be a difficult 
question to answer. As may be imagined, books are not often 
to be seen on the island. It will take at least two generations, 
in my opinion, to accustom these people to the things in our 
American civilization which make for comfort and broad cul- 
ture. Of course, I am referring to the masses. 

An American school teacher who occupies the guest-room 



444 



OUR COLONIES 



of a Porto Rican home told me of the color scheme of her 
room. 

"The walls are pink," she said. "One door is green, a sec- 
ond is green and white, and a third is blue. The mosquito 
bar is a flaming red. The cloth over my center table is a red 
blanket. The floor has inch cracks between most of the boards, 
and there are iron bars on the windows." 

The native teachers in graded schools are paid $30 a month, 
and when a girl gets a position in the schools it is the custom 
for her relatives to quit work and assist her in spending the 
$30. American teachers in the graded schools are started at 
$75 a month. Through their work the standards of the native 
teachers are continually being raised. 

In the schools, as everywhere else, the blacks and whites 
get along most amicably. A black man, the same as a white 
man, can occupy any position his intelligence or wealth may 
secure for him. Those with negro blood may even visit with 
some of the best white families. There is only one place where 
the color line is drawn. In every town there is a club known as 
the Casino, about which the social life centers. No one with 
negro blood is permitted to become a member of the Casino. 

At the Jefferson School at Arecibo, the largest graded 
school on the island, it was an inspiring sight to see the 1,400 
pupils salute the American flag as it fluttered in the morning 
sunlight. 

At Mayagiiez, the third city of Porto Rico, the Govern- 
ment has established an agricultural college and agricultural 




JEFFERSON SCHOOL, ARECIBO. THE LARGEST GRADED SCHOOL 
IN PORTO RICO. 



PORTO RICO 445 

experiment station. At the village of Hatillo the George 
O, Robinson Industrial and Training School is conducted 
for boys by the Rev. R. E. Pearce. The school is the gift of 
Judge Robinson of Detroit, Michigan, to the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. Having established a home for girls in San 
Juan, he gave this one for the boys. There were thirty boys 
in attendance. 

"We are teaching them farming, carpentry and shoe- 
making," Mr. Pearce said. "Although the boys have been 
gathered from all over the island, not more than three or four 
knew how to plant beans when they came here. The trouble 
with the owners of the land is that they have made such big 
money out of crops like sugar, tobacco and coffee that they are 
contemptuous of all others. It follows that the peasant, there- 
fore, knows nothing of agriculture other than what he gets in 
the cultivation of these few staples. In the past a planter 
never thought of having a kitchen garden. Today they are 
becoming more provident." 

Speaking Spanish at home and on the street and then recit- 
ing at school in English, the children sometimes have a hard 
time of it. One boy sent the following note to his teacher to 
explain his absence from school : 

Dear Teacher: I am sick with the mumps. You know perfectly 
well a boy cannot go to school sick with that disease. So please 
excuse me while I mump. Your truly pupil, JUAN PEREZ. 

Another one wrote : 

Dear Teacher: I am sick with a cold, home all day drinking 
medicine. Your dutiful pupil, JOSE DELGADO. 

Not only do they write notes from home, but they also 
write them in class and give them to the teacher on leaving. 
One American teacher is treasuring this : 

Dear Teacher: When you spoke to me about talking", I was not 
talking. I was sick. These words are no lie. Your sick pupil, 

PEDRO RUIZ. 

At the beginning of the school year a teacher asked each 
pupil to write on a slip of paper his father's name and what he 
was doing. One boy disturbed the class by his loud laughter. 

"What is the matter, Juan ?" asked the teacher. 




446 OUR COLONIES 

"I can't tell what my father is doing," he 
managed to gasp between peals of laughter, 
"because he's in the cemetery." 

Then the teacher was the only one who did 
not laugh. 

A school baseball game or a track meet in 
Porto Rico is just like one in the United 
States. There are the same songs, the same 
school yells and the same cheer leaders. I 
should like to see a picked team of Porto Rican 
athletes sent to the United States to compete 
with American boys. The records here are 
good. Ponce had a youth of 18, Cosme Beitia, 
who was one of the best all-around young 
athletes of whom I have heard. In a contest young porto rican 
at San Juan he won five events, won the relay in his Sunday 
race for his team, and was second in the clothes. 

hurdles and high jump. His firsts were: 100- 
yard dash, 10 1-5 seconds ; 220-yard dash, 24 seconds ; pole 
vault, 11 feet; broad jump, 21 feet, and 440-yard run, 51 sec- 
onds. You will have to look a long time in the United States 
to find a boy to equal those records on one day, I fancy. 

Here are a couple of stories that Martin G. Brumbaugh, 
the first American commissioner of education, told. When 
he made his first inspection of one school he noticed that one 
bright little negro boy always faced him. When he went out 
at recess and at noon he turned at the teacher's desk and 

backed out as if in the presence of 
royalty. He came into the room in 
the same fashion, turning at the 
desk and backing to his seat. 

"Why does that little boy act so 
peculiarly?" asked Brumbaugh, 
pointing at the little pickaninny. 

"Well," answered the teacher, 
''he has only half a shirt and he is 
wearing that in front." 

A RURAL SCHOOL. SUCH SCHOOLS 

ARE FOUND EVERYWHERE 

IN PORTO RICO. 




PORTO RICO 



447 




FAMILY OF TOLL-BRIDGE KEEPER ON THE RIO GRANDE. 
LIVELY CANDIDATES FOR SCHOOL. 



SOME 



At another place a pupil was not so particular. As he 
marched out of school, Mr. Brumbaugh read this astonishing 
sign on the seat of his trousers : "XXX Flour." 

Children who go to school in such clothes certainly are 
eager for an education, and they are getting it. 



p 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

RESOURCES AND TRADE. 

ORTO RICO has been called the "gem of our colonial 
possessions." Commercially it is increasing in impor- 
tance with the passing of each year. As a purchaser of Ameri- 
can goods the island now ranks thirteenth. The United States 
is Porto Rico's best customer. In the fiscal year closing June 
30, 1913, 86 per cent of the trade of the island was with this 
country. 

Porto Rico sold last year to the United States products 
valued at $40,536,623, a loss of $2,334,778. The drop of $16 
per ton in the price of sugar was responsible for the decrease 
in the total value of shipments to the U. S. A. Exports to for- 
eign countries amounted to $8,564,942, an increase of $1,732,- 
930. Imports from foreign countries were $3,745,057, a loss 
of $1,756,871. The total foreign trade was $49,103,565, a loss 
of $601,848 over 19 1 2. 

As Porto Rico progresses, its desire to buy is bound to 
increase. Human wants and tastes increase in the ratio of 
increase in wealth and civilization. In 1896 the share of the 
United States in the world's commerce with Porto Rico was 
but 18 per cent. In 1901, the first year after the establishment 
of free trade between Porto Rico and the United States, the 
island imported merchandise from the United States valued 
at $6,965,408, our share of the world's commerce with the 
island that year being 71 per cent. During the year ending 
June 30, 1913, Porto Rico bought merchandise from the United 
States valued at $33,155,005, a decrease of $4,269,540. For 
breadstufls the island sent $7,655,353 to the United States, 
buying $5,069,527 worth of rice and $1,786,589 worth of flour. 
Cotton goods valued at $3,821,535 were bought and the island 
took $2,939,442 worth of manufactures of iron and steel. 

448 



45o 



OUR COLONIES 



Other big purchases from Uncle Sam included meats and meat 
products valued at $3,211,247, and leather goods valued at 
$1,441,605. The commodities mentioned composed most of 
the imports from the United States, the remainder being as 
varied as the imports of any growing country, but not extensive. 

Notwithstanding the fact that unusual purchases were made 
for internal improvements, there was the large balance of trade 
in favor of the island of $12,000,000, nearly twice as much as 
ever before shown on that side of the trade ledger. This result 
would be more gratifying if it had been produced in an increase 
of the value of products sold instead of a decrease in the value 
of purchases made. 

As one can readily understand, the chief commercial center 
of the island is San Juan. It is the leading shipping point to 
the United States and foreign countries as well as the largest 
port of entry. Small freighters ply around the island. It 
sometimes takes a month for goods to go by water to points 




■■mtimw 

SAN FRANCISCO STREET, SAN TUAN, PORTO RICO. 



452 



OUR COLONIES 



off the railroad, such as Fajardo and Humacao. The port 
next in importance to San Juan is Ponce, on the south side of 
the island. 

Ponce does not show the same Americanization as does 
San Juan. Some of its main thoroughfares are wider, but it 
is essentially Spanish in its mode of life. Many persons 
familiar with both towns prefer Ponce to the capital. It has 
35,027 inhabitants. The first landing of American troops was 
to the west. Two days later, July 27, 1898, the squadron 
reached Ponce. As there were no fortifications to protect it, 
under an agreement that saved it from bombardment, the 
Spanish forces withdrew. 

Ponce is the terminus of the railway from San Juan. It is 
the shipping point for most of the sugar and coffee produced 
on the south side of the island. From it diverge two roads 
over the mountains, the Military Road to San Juan and the 
road across Arecibo Pass to Arecibo. I took the latter, pass- 
ing through a rich coffee district where rain falls almost every 
day. From some of the summits of the mountains that shadow 




A REFRESHMENT BOOTH IN THE PLAZA, PONCE, PORTO RICO. 



PORTO RICO 



453 



Arecibo Pass both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean 
can be seen. In the valley of the Arecibo River the palisades 
are of imposing grandeur. 

Coffee in this region sometimes does not make a normal 
crop because of the very heavy rainfall. The planters also 
suffer more or less loss through the scarcity of laborers, since 
so many of the peons now find that they can make a better 
living on the coast, where there are no dangers and discom- 
forts from rain and the hookworm. Coffee is a peculiar plant. 




NATIVE WOMEN SORTING COFFEE BERRIES, PORTO RICO. 



It here depends for its growth on shady, damp ground. Being 
a compact, imperishable product, it can be transported profit- 
ably long distances over bad roads and mountain trails. The 
Porto Rican acreage will probably not increase, however, 
because better means of transportation makes perishable crops 
more remunerative. 

The crop last year was the largest in the history of the 
island. Coffee to the extent of $8,511,316 was exported, its 
value furnishing almost one-fifth of the receipts from foreign 
trade. France and Cuba were among the heaviest purchasers. 



454 OUR COLONIES 

The coffee planters once occupied the supremacy now enjoyed 
by the sugar men because they had a favorable Spanish tariff. 
The American occupation took that away. The planters also 
suffered from the great production of Brazilian coffee and the 
terrible cyclone that swept the island bare in 1899. 

Arecibo, said to have been founded in 1616, is one of the 
most progressive towns on the island. Its streets are well 
paved, and the plaza is the most attractive I saw, with the pos- 
sible exception of that at Mayagiiez. The harbor is poor, and 
now almost entire dependence is placed on the railroad. 

From Arecibo I returned to San Juan in order to go over 
the Military Road which runs through the heart of a rich 
tobacco district. The mountainous parts of Porto Rico are 
usually in great "hog back" ridges. On top of a mountain 
there is no plateau space ; between two elevations there is sel- 
dom a valley of cultivable width. The Military Road, how- 
ever, winds its way through some wide valleys that belie the 
general character of the island by rolling in gentle undulations 
to the heights. 

The town of Caguas is surrounded by fields shaded with 
cheesecloth, under which grows the choice Porto Rican tobacco. 
The land is worth from $60 to $350 an acre. Since the Ameri- 
can occupation land values have been steadily going up. One 
tract that cost $8,000 ten years ago sold last year for $35,000. 
There are a number of cigar factories. The wages of the 
cigar makers average about $10 a week. 

In 191 3 the island's output of cigars was more than four- 
teen times greater than it was ten years ago. Two hundred 
and eighty-four million cigars were made, one hundred and 
sixty-five million of these being shipped to the United States. 
The tobacco exported last year was valued at $7,000,000. In 
its manufacture a larger number are engaged than in any other 
manufacturing industry on the island. Owing to the demand, 
the manufacture of tobacco has increased at a greater rate 
than the production. The native cigarettes retail in packages 
of ten for three cents. Cigars cost from one cent up. The 
tobacco grown on the island of Porto Rico is not equal in 



PORTO RICO 



455 




FIELDS OF TOBACCO COVERED WITH CHEESECLOTH, ON THE 
PORTO RICAN MILITARY ROAD. 

flavor to the Cuban tobacco, nor does it bring so high a price. 

The divides on the Military Road are crossed at heights 
of from 1,300 to 2,000 feet. Cayey and Aibonito are tobacco 
towns. Beyond the latter the valleys are remarkable for their 
long and gentle slopes. When the road begins to fall toward 
the Caribbean Sea, in one stretch of six miles it drops 1,400 
feet. Off the road a few miles is the island's watering place, 
Coamo Springs. It is noted for its social life and its medi- 
cinal baths. 

There is a long plain traversed by the road just before 
reaching Ponce. Through it runs a river that gives a great 
deal of trouble when rains are unusually heavy. A downpour 
in the mountains converts it into a raging torrent. This is 
characteristic of all the mountain streams. Until the water 
subsides, passage is impossible. Not long since one of the rains 



456 OUR COLONIES 

flooded Ponce, and one block from the plaza the water was 
three feet deep in the streets. 

From Ponce I went west to Yauco, a prosperous coffee 
town which boasts of the first public library on the island. It 
is seven miles from Yauco to Guanica, where American troops 
first landed. Here is Porto Rico's largest sugar central. 

The greatest crop in Porto Rico is sugar cane. The old 
tariff upon sugar was just the same as giving the Porto Rican 
planter a bounty of $33 a ton. The sugar men are very blue 
over free sugar. They now admit that they could stand a cut, 
but free sugar will ruin many. The average American con- 
sumes eighty-three pounds of sugar a year, and only ten pounds 
of this is produced in the United States. We even import two 
million short tons of sugar beets annually. Of course, the 
Porto Rico sugar formerly came in duty free, so Porto Ricans 
got the benefit, in higher prices, of the duty assessed on the 
sugar of other countries. 

Some of the sugar planters of Porto Rico went to 
Washington and for the purpose of securing a sympathetic 
hearing told how they would be ruined if the duty on sugar 
were lowered even a fraction of a cent. The Porto Rican 
banks began to think that the sugar industry must really be in 
a serious condition. To protect themselves they began to call 
the sugar loans of the men who had told Congress that they 
were facing ruin. So it came about that several planters 
failed when there was no need for it ; and others had to do a 
great deal of explaining to make their bankers understand that 
they were merely talking to influence public opinion. 

The sugar exports last year amounted to 382,700 tons, over 
five times greater than the amount exported eleven years ago. 
The sales outside the island amounted to $26,619,158, over fifty 
per cent of Porto Rico's external sales. Cuba, owing to 
climatic and soil conditions, can grow cane cheaper than Porto 
Rico, and the cane is richer in sugar. Porto Rico produces 
about as much sugar as Louisiana, and twice as much as the 
Philippines. Hawaii's production about equals that of Porto 
Rico and the Philippines combined. 



PORTO RICO 



AS7 



Although Porto Rico depends for the most part upon its 
staples, sugar, tobacco, and coffee, there are other products 
that are of importance. The shipments of fruit in 1913 
amounted to $3,120,919. These included oranges, pineapples, 
coconuts and grapefruit. Coconuts are grown anywhere upon 
the coast. The citrus fruits seem to thrive best on the north 
coast, although large investments have been made also at the 
western end of the island. 

The leading western port and the third town in size is 
Mayagiiez with 16,591 inhabitants. In 1763 the excellence of 
the harbor was recognized and the town accordingly founded. 
Other towns in the vicinity are far older. San German was 
founded in 15 12 and named by Diego Columbus, a son of the 
great discoverer. The island's oldest church is a picturesque 
structure which the Dominican friars built in San German in 
1538. When the Spaniards moved a settlement from one loca- 
tion to another they usually kept the same name. San German 
was first situated nearer the coast than it is today. Pirates 
laid it waste and the French sacked it in 1526. Then it was 
moved inland. 




THE OLDEST CHURCH IN PORTO RICO, SAN GERMAN, ERECTED 

IN I538. 



458 OUR COLONIES 

The assessed valuation of property on the island, which is, 
of course, estimated to be somewhat below the actual value, is 
$179,271,023. The per capita wealth, based on the census of 
1910, is $175. As I have said before, the American occupation 
brought great changes for the poorer classes, and wages as well 
as living conditions are improving every year. Porto Rico's 
total indebtedness is only $4,876,747, the per capita indebted- 
ness being $4.18 as against $10.83 in the United States. The 
insular Government derives virtually all the money needed for 
support from the customs and excise taxes which in the States 
and Territories go to the Federal Treasury. In this respect 
Porto Rico is particularly favored. 

A good indication of the growing prosperity of the island 
is the fact that since 1908 deposits in the eleven recognized 
banking institutions have doubled. On June 30, 1913, the 
deposits aggregated $21,316,027. These figures do not repre- 
sent the banking business of the island, as many commercial 
houses, following the custom of Spanish times, are still per- 
forming the functions usually reserved to banks. There is no 
official record of their resources. 

The Porto Rican Government maintains a commercial 
agency at 569 Fifth Avenue, New York City. It welcomes 
inquiries and furnishes descriptive literature and specific infor- 
mation. Porto Rico is an agricultural country almost exclu- 
sively and will always remain so. Intensified farming will 
make the island more prosperous, and it is already being 
realized that this is the only progressive step, in view of the 
large rural population. 

It was during February, 19 13, that I visited Porto Rico 
with Mr. Harold Sanderson, president of the White Star 
Steamship Company. Before reaching Porto Rico we had 
visited Jamaica, Trinidad and other British island posses- 
sions of the West Indies that had been under British rule for 
three hundred years or more. After looking over Porto Rico, 
and comparing its improvement under United States rule with 
what Great Britain has done in other West India islands, and 
finding everything immensely in our favor, I said to my Eng- 



PORTO RICO 



459 




SCENE ON THE RIO GRANDE, PORTO RICO. 



lish friend, "Mr. Sanderson, what do you think of what we 
have done in Porto Rico in twelve years?" He just shrugged 
his shoulders and replied, "You people of the United States 
are wonderful people." I have been under every flag in the 
world, except three, and I know that the United States han- 
dles colonies better than any other nation. While Porto Rico's 
discoverers saw in the island the promise of gold, we can see 
treasure in its fertile soil. Located within easy access of the 
big cities and markets of our Eastern States, it can become a 
much greater credit to the United States as a colony than it is 
even now. 



THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND 
REPUBLIC OF PANAMA 

Canal Zone, contains 286,720 acres — United States paid Repub- 
lic of Panama $10,000,000 for the land, paid France $40,- 
000,000 for Canal work and Panama Railway — Panama 
Railway, 48 miles long — Canal 50 miles long; cost to United 
States over $400,000,000, cost to France $340,000,000; total 
final cost, including interest, over $1,000,000,000 — People 
employed in Canal during construction 40,000 — Governor, 
Colonel George W . Goethals. Republic of Panama, area 
32,000 square miles — Present population, estimated, 400,000 
— Free public schools 364 — Chief resources, bananas, coffee, 
cacao, coconuts, cattle, rubber, vanilla, sugar, valuable 
woods, tobacco, pearls, minerals, excepting coal — Exports, 
1913, $4,234,010; imports, $23,547,000 — Capital, Panama 
City, population, estimated, 50,000 — Governor, until 1916, 
Belisario Porras. 

CHAPTER XLVIL 

THE CANAL AND REPUBLIC. 

IT WAS my good fortune to go through the Panama 
Canal Zone on foot at the beginning of my travels 
in South America, over three years ago, and to study in 
this intimate way the work on what has been justly called the 
greatest engineering feat mankind ever attempted. When 
I was there in 191 1 the Big Ditch was only partly com- 
pleted, a vast army of men was busy with excavators, explo- 
sives and dredges, our engineers were in the midst of a strug- 
gle with Nature that called into play every resource of mod- 
ern science and skill. Returning to the Isthmus recently, I 
saw the barriers torn away and the Canal an accomplished 
fact, a wonderful new highway "free and open to the ves- 
sels of commerce and war of all nations on terms of entire 
equality," in accordance to the provisions of our treaties. 
Though cargo ships are being floated from ocean to ocean, 

460 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 461 

there is much work to be done and many details to be com- 
pleted before the plans of the Canal builders are fully realized. 
Nature has not yet been permanently subdued by the engineers. 
The great expenditure of treasure is by no means ended. But 
in giving the world this object lesson in American enterprise, 
ingenuity and perseverance, we have let no monetary con- 
siderations stand in our way. I can only repeat what I said 




PROFILE MAP OF THE PANAMA CANAL. 



462 



OUR COLONIES 



two years ago in Illustrated South America. "We are short- 
ening distance and thereby saving time, and, consequently, 
lengthening human lives. We must take our reward and 
satisfaction in that. . . . The final, ultimate effect on 
humanity of the expenditure of money by Governments must, 
of course, be considered, rather than whether or not the 
expenditure will make returns in cash, for the civilizing and 
broadening of the minds of men is, in the final analysis, the 
true profit." 

The Panama Canal Zone is the most important of our 
outlying possessions. In many respects it is the most vitally 
valuable bit of land owned by the United States, internal or 
external. Because this peculiarly important possession of 
ours cuts directly through the heart of the Republic of 
Panama, from which country we obtained it, and because 
the United States has guaranteed the independence of this 
Republic in which the Canal Zone lies, it is only proper to 
take a glance at the land in which we have planted this great 
enterprise. The Republic of Panama is distinctly a United 
States dependency, and when one promises to "shoulder the 




MR. BOYCE ON THE BAYANO RIVER, INTERIOR PANAMA, 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 463 




NATIVE VILLAGE ON THE BAYANO RIVER, INTERIOR OF 
PANAMA REPUBLIC. 

fights" of a country, however small, that country becomes 
interesting. 

The Republic of Panama is not of very great area, though 
it embraces within its limits practically the whole of the 
American Isthmus. The area of the country is approximately 
32,000 square miles. This is an estimate only, as no actual, 
careful survey has ever been made. Its total land frontier — 
that is, between Costa Rica on the north and Colombia on 
the south — is about 350 miles, while its combined coast line 
upon the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans aggregates 1,245 miles. 
Its greatest length is about 430 miles, with a varying width of 
37 to no miles. Both coasts are studded with islands and 
indented with bays. The islands have been estimated to num- 
ber something over 1,700, small and great. A backbone of 
mountains runs throughout the length of the country, rising 
into peaks at some points and falling to comparatively low 
elevations at others, as in the pass of Culebra, which we 
pierced in digging the Canal. 

The country is bisected with hills and valleys, running up 
into the mountains, with alluvial stretches of level land along 
the seacoast upon either side. From this crooked, rambling 



464 OUR COLONIES 

land 300 streams flow into the Pacific Ocean and 150 into the 
Atlantic Ocean waters. The slopes of the mountains and 
much of the low lands are covered with jungle and forest. 
This, briefly, is the topography of the Republic, the "baby 
brother" we have pledged ourselves to protect. 

It has improved since we began associating with it. The 
Panama of today "shows off well" in contrast with the Panama 
of yesterday. While little more than a decade has passed 
since it became self-governing, its improvement and progress 
are very marked. All investigators agree on this point. 
Panama people may not exactly like to have it openly stated, 
but the fact remains that the rapid and great improvement 
in their national life could hardly have taken place without the 
helpful influence of their big Northern neighbor. Before 
we indirectly helped them to independence and separation 
from Colombia the history of the Isthmus was one of bicker- 
ings and revolutions. Since the bloodless revolution of Novem- 
ber 3, 1903, which set them free, they have had peace, and 
have reaped the harvest of peace, which is progress. 

One important thing we did, we made it possible for them 
to disband their standing army. This they did in 1904. This 
was a distinct blessing, since it is a fact that the army in 
almost every Latin- American country is a bone of conten- 
tion between the rival political parties. Whichever party 
wins over the army is practically assured of gaining the Presi- 
dency and offices, and incidentally the treasury. Within a year 
after Panama gained its independence the Commander-in- 
Chief of the army laid a plot to overthrow the President of 
the Republic. The United States Government told him plainly 
that if he made a single move we would take charge. He 
"wilted" and quit. The standing army was no longer of any 
use in gathering political spoils, so it was disbanded. In 
point of fact, the Republic of Panama needs no army, since its 
peace and defense are guaranteed by the United States. 

The human element of this tropical dependency of ours 
consisted of 386,745 persons, according to the last census taken, 
which was in 191 1. This included 36,000 Indians, and 50,000 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 465 

people under the jurisdiction of the Canal Zone. The latter 
number, which has greatly diminished since the practical com- 
pletion of the Canal, should, of course, be deducted from the 
enumeration. Still, counting its natural increase since the last 
census, the Republic probably contains close to 400,000 people. 
The native inhabitants are mingled Spanish, Indian and Negro, 
speaking a Spanish dialect. There are some immigrants from 
Europe and the United States, and some 3,500 Chinese. 

The country is divided into seven provinces, administered 
by Governors appointed by the President of the Republic. 
The principal towns are Panama City, upon the Pacific side, 
with an estimated present population of 50,000; Colon, on 
the Atlantic, with 25,000 or more; David, in the northern 
part, with something over 10,000; Los Santos with 8,000; 
Santiago, with some 7,000, and Bocas del Toro, built up by the 
banana interests of the United Fruit Company, with 6,000. 
Some of these cities have grown with great rapidity since 
the advent of the Canal builders in 1904. The city of Panama 
then had about 20,000 inhabitants, an old-fashioned, unsani- 
tary Spanish town. Now it enjoys most of the conveniences of 
other modern cities, including taxicabs and an electric street 
railway. Colon also is rapidly being modernized. Their near- 
ness to the eastern and western terminals of the great Canal 
of course stimulates them ; to be near a big, vital thing like the 
Canal naturally "starts things." 

However, outside the big centers, the wheels do not turn 
very rapidly. The great lack is adequate transportation 
facilities from the interior to the ports. One sees far too 




DISTANT VIEW OF THE CITY OF PANAMA 



466 



OUR COLONIES 




CORNER OF A PUBLIC SQUARE IN PANAMA CITY. 

much produce going to market on pack-ponies and two- 
wheeled ox-carts over very poor roads. When Panama became 
a republic there was scarcely a road in it worthy of the 
name. Recently they have begun to "get busy" in road-build- 
ing, the Government assisting with large sums of money. 
They have improved the cities, and are beginning to realize 
that to sustain the cities they must help the country, where 
agriculture has been in a primitive, backward condition. 

Since the North Americans arrived in 1904, the Panama 
people have constructed municipal buildings, including school- 



-^fefe-r^-- ' ■' /.^Spwa-' 5 ^*^ 


r vg3Hr -p Sm mm £ 





RAILWAY STATION, PANAMA CITY. 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 467 

houses, in all of the important 
towns; a $1,000,000 national 
palace and theater in Panama 
City, a national institute for boys 
costing $800,000, and numerous 
other fine improvements, but 
they are painfully "shy" on rail- 
roads. Outside the Canal Zone 
line, they have only about 150 
miles of track, consisting mainly 
of the United Fruit Company's 
road and branches in the prov- 
ince of Bocas del Toro, prin- 
cipally a banana-carrying road. However, the present admin- 
istration of the Republic is planning the building of several 
electric lines, which, when they materialize, will aid the much 
needed development of the country. 

They have a lot of resources in the Republic; bananas 
galore, coffee and cacao, sugar, tobacco, mahogany and other 
valuable woods, and almost every common mineral except 
coal. It is an old volcanic region with a rich soil, and all it 
needs is the application of muscle and brains. It is begin- 




CITY HALL, PANAMA CITY. 




A GLIMPSE OF COLON HARBOR. 



4 68 



OUR COLONIES 




ning to look as if these requisites 
were going to be brought to 
bear. 

They have some wise laws 
and a pretty sound constitution. 
The President of the Republic 
is elected for a term of four 
years and cannot succeed him- 
self, which tends to curtail politi- 
cal plotting. He is elected by 
popular vote, and is assisted by 
three Vice-Presidents and a 
Cabinet of five members. The 
law-making body consists of a 
single National Assembly con- 
taining twenty-eight members 
elected by the people. The 
present incumbent of the presi- 
dential chair is Dr. Belisario 
Porras, an able and progressive 
man. 

Financially the little Republic 
is in good condition, its total 
governmental revenues for 19 13 amounting to $5,300,000, 
with a budget of expense estimated at $3,840,000. It has no 
national debt and is not likely to contract one. Evidently we 
are to be free of monetary trouble concerning it, at least for 
some time to come. Agriculturally the soil of the Republic 
has hardly been scratched; its immense resources in fruits 
have only been developed in respect to the banana, the United 
Fruit Company having shipped from the Bocas del Toro dis- 
trict alone last year over 6,000,000 bunches of that fruit; it 
has capacity for the raising of beef cattle by the million, 
though it has at present probably not more than 100,000 within 
its limits. Plainly the Republic has a future if it can once 
get started, and there are signs that it is getting under way. 
This is a very brief outline of the country in which we 



UNITED STATES LEGATION BUILDING 

PANAMA CITY. BUILT BY 

THE FRENCH. 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 469 

have planted our gigantic enterprise, the Canal, the country 
we have contracted to protect and to insure a continuous 
peace. 

At present the task is almost nothing ; what the future may 
bring forth no man can tell. Our guardianship of the Repub- 
lic is a mild one, but necessity might compel us to shut out 
intruders, safeguard the health of the Republic, or supervise 
its elections, though it is not the wish or intention of the 
people of the United States to annex Panama. At present we 
have all the fish we can fry; what may be the inclinations or 
desires of our children's children, however, we do not know. 
We hope it may not be conquest, only helpfulness and peace. 

Having hurriedly sketched the country containing the 
Canal, we will return to the "Great Furrow" itself. It is worth 
looking at and justifies "tall talk." 

The history of the Isthmus and the building of the Canal 
is a kind of wonder story, the story of a world-dream that 
continued through 400 years and finally came true. The 
early Spanish explorers had a vision of it. Balboa's 
first report to Spain, after he had climbed the forest-covered 
hills and discovered the Pacific, was accompanied by a recom- 
mendation that a canal be immediately dug across the Isthmus. 
Evidently Balboa, or rather Saavedra, his lieutenant, who 




A STREET IN COLON. 



470 OUR COLONIES 

made the suggestion, did not wholly appreciate how difficult 
the job would be. What the Spaniard had in view was a 
sea-level canal, and when one considers, for instance, the 
excavation of Culebra Cut with the tools of Balboa's day, 
one sees that the explorer's recommendation was slightly 
premature. It is an interesting fact, however, that in Bal- 
boa's time the hydraulic lock system had been invented. The 
great locks of the Panama Canal are the same in principle as a 
lock produced four centuries ago by Leonardo da Vinci, the 
great Italian artist-engineer, for lifting vessels over eleva- 
tions — a most important discovery, but the Spaniards seem 
not to have considered it. At any rate, they dismissed the 
canal project; some historians say because of the adverse 
influence of the Church. The wise Spanish bishops, quoting 
Sacred Scripture, declared, "What God hath joined together 
let no man put asunder." Then again, long-haired profes- 
sors told the public that if a canal were digged across the 
Isthmus it would change the Gulf Stream and make an iceberg 
out of England ! Their acumen was about on a par with that 
of a certain Western woman who, when told of the trouble and 
unsanitary conditions at first encountered on the Isthmus, said, 
"Well, if it was so hot and unhealthy, why on earth did they 
go away off down there to dig the Canal, anyhow !" 

As was natural, almost immediately upon its discovery 
the Isthmus of Panama became an important trade route 
between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The principal modes of 
transit were mule trains, canoes and small boats part of the 
way, and often human backs. Out of this traffic grew the 
first European settlement on the mainland of America, the 
old city of Panama, founded in 15 19. For over 150 years 
Panama remained the chief city on the Pacific Coast. The 
Europeans found it difficult to believe that there wasn't some 
natural waterway across the Isthmus. In fact, some of the 
early maps published in Europe showed an imaginary "Strait 
of Panama." Finally they got it through their heads that 
the barrier between the two oceans was a real one. After 
that the idea of cutting a way through never wholly died. 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 471 

Surveys were first made by the Spanish in 1581. They 
reported that the scheme was impossible. Then the idea sim- 
mered for over a century, when it took root in the mind of a 
famous Scotchman, William Paterson, the founder of the 
Bank of England. Paterson's project was to establish a set- 
tlement on the Isthmus, cut a canal, and through its con- 
trol "hold the key to the commerce of the world." The great 
banker's idea is the one we should now develop, by making 
the Canal a port free of import and export custom duties, as 
I will later point out. Paterson's attempt failed ; at that time 
the carrying out of so difficult and tremendous an engineer- 
ing feat was impossible. 

Again the Spanish surveyed the Isthmus for a canal. That 
was in 1771. The movement ended in smoke, and once 
more the idea simmered. Then in 1855 Americans opened a 
railroad across the Isthmus. The exploration and surveys 
for this railroad are said to have cost the life of a man for 
every tie. 

Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the great Suez Canal, 
formed a company in Paris in 1877 to dig a shipway through 
the Panama Isthmus. Actual work was started in the next 
year. A red letter day on the calendar of the De Lesseps 
company was January 20, 1880, when, in the presence of a 
distinguished gathering, the engineers fired the first blast for 
tearing a way through Culebra Mountain. But after seven 
years, when the impossibility of building a sea-level canal 
within the estimated twelve years became apparent, De 
Lesseps quit the project. It was announced that the work 
could not be completed for the estimated cost of $240,000,000, 
for the very good reason that $300,000,000 had already been 
spent. The company went into bankruptcy. In 1894 a new 
French company started work again, but in five years' time 
little was accomplished, and finally operations ceased. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

BUILDING AND OPERATION. 

EVERY one is so familiar with the story of how we 
obtained the Canal Zone and "made the dirt fly" that it is 
not necessary to go into extended detail here. In 1904 the 
rights and property of the French companies were taken over 
at an agreed price of $40,000,000, that being the extravagantly 
appraised value of the initial excavation work, the Panama 
Railroad, maps and data, buildings and machinery. Terri- 
torial rights came to the United States from a treaty with the 
new Republic of Panama, which came into being through a 
revolt from Colombia. Colombia had refused to grant us 
the rights necessary to insure our position in constructing the 
Canal. The treaty with Panama included the payment of 
$10,000,000 and an annuity of $250,000, to begin nine years 
after the treaty was signed. At the conclusion of negotiations 
the rival Nicaraguan Canal project was discarded and the 
United States was ready to begin digging, assured of the use 
and absolute control of a canal zone ten miles wide across 
the Isthmus, having an area of 286,720 acres, and jurisdic- 
tion over waters three miles from either side of the zone. By 
a new treaty recently signed between the United States and 
Panama, we are given sovereign rights in the waters of Colon 
and Ancon, the harbor towns at the ends of the Canal. This 
settles the last question as to complete American control of 
the waterway. 

The decision that made Panama a high-level lock canal 
was not made by Congress until 1906. In the meantime yel- 
low fever and malaria had caused alarming mortality, the 
same terrors which baffled the French having appeared in the 
workers' camps, and the problem of safeguarding health 
loomed up as greater than the one of engineering. Vigorous 

472 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 473 




sanitary measures were under- 
taken. Colonel William C. Gorgas 
began his remarkable work, and 
through his untiring efforts and 
those of his able assistants, the 
Canal Zone was made a safe place 
in which to work. Without these 
brave, skillful men of the medical 
department, the building of the 
Canal would not have been accom- 
plished. The death rate in the 
Canal Zone is lower than in most 
American cities. 

In 1907 came the man who has 
really built the Canal. Colonel 
George W. Goethals of the United 
States army headed a commission 
which took the place of the first 
one, on which men had been ap- 
pointed from civil life. Colonel 

Goethals and the new Commission have been united in action 
and unusually efficient. Colonel Goethals is now Governor 
of the Canal Zone. 

When the Government steamship Ancon made her trip 
through the Canal August 15, 1914, officially opening the new 
ocean highway to traffic, many notable people were there. 
The most modest man was one holding an umbrella over his 
head and keeping as much in the background as possible. 
That was Colonel Goethals. His country has learned to appre- 
ciate his worth, quiet though he has been about the work and 
the trials he has had. The task in itself has been of a mag- 
nitude that is difficult to realize, and in addition there have 
been the influences of tropical conditions, of Government con- 
trol and of uncertain labor markets to deal with. For the 
efficient Goethals and those under him there is all honor. The 
mistakes that have been charged have been dwarfed by the 
successes of the herculean undertaking, and in the history of 



COLONEL WILLIAM C. GORGAS, THE 

MAN WHO MADE THE CANAL 

ZONE SANITARY. 



474 



OUR COLONIES 



the Canal's construction, we are glad to state, there is not the 
smallest blot of proved corruption or graft, excepting in the 
company stores run by the Panama Railroad, which is owned 
by the United States Government. 

At times as many as 45,000 men have been employed on 
the Canal. The average number has been 40,000. It should 
be kept in mind, too, that the work had to be carried on at a 
distance of two thousand miles from the base of supplies. 

When the Canal was officially opened, a little more than 




COLONEL GEORGE W. GOETHALS, CHIEF BUILDER OF THE CANAL. 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 475 




THE FIRST BOAT, A GOVERNMENT LIGHTER, PASSING THROUGH 
MIRAFLORES LOCKS. 



ten years after American work began on the Isthmus, over 
$400,000,000 had been expended by our Government. Much 
remained to be done, including dredging, the extent of which 
nobody could forecast, deepening of the channel for the larg- 
est ships, completion of fortifications and buildings, beautifica- 
tion and numerous other "final touches." It was originally 
estimated that it would cost $157,000,000 to build the Canal. 
After spending a good deal of time on the Isthmus three 
years ago, investigating and drawing conclusions to the best 
of my judgment, I made this estimate: "When the project 
is entirely finished, over $1,000,000,000 will have been invested 
by the United States and France." I have no reason to change 
my opinion now, when the total already is $740,000,000, add- 
ing the $400,000,000 we have spent to the $340,000,000 spent 
by the French, and adding interest on the money spent up to 



476 



OUR COLONIES 



date, it will be seen that the total rises already close to 
$1,000,000,000. 

The original estimate on the cost of digging missed the 
mark so widely because the American engineers were unac- 
quainted with the materials of which the whole country of the 
Canal Zone is made — lava ash. Before the major portion of 




THE GREAT CUCARACHA SLIDE. 



the excavating was done it was necessary to remove many 
million cubic yards of slide material upon which the engineers 
had never figured. They learned that in order to reduce the 
pressure so the water would hold the soil back they must 
materially increase the excavation, and even with the grade 
greatly reduced the slides came with disconcerting frequency. 
When the Big Ditch was opened to traffic, Colonel Goethals 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 477 

pointed out that the earth had not reached a state of equil- 
ibrium, and that probably it would be necessary to continue 
dredging for many months. It was hoped that these earth 
movements would not be so extensive as to interfere with 
navigation, though the channel at several points in Culebra 
Cut necessarily would be reduced considerably in width for 
a while. Just two months after the opening of the water- 
way, rains caused a serious landslide north of Gold Hill, where 
the earth reaches its greatest height on the Isthmus. Thou- 
sands of cubic yards of rock and dirt entered the channel, 




BLOWING UP THE DIKE AT MIRAFLORES WITH 40,000 POUNDS OF DYNAMITE, 
BEGINNING THE INFLOW OF WATER CONNECTING THE TWO OCEANS. 



completely blocking it for a distance of 1,000 feet. Ships 
passing through when the slide occurred were forced to wait 
until the great dredges could reopen the channel, an operation 
which consumed much valuable time. 

The total excavation in the Canal has been over 232,000,- 
000 cubic yards, with Culebra Cut, nine miles long, the most 



478 OUR COLONIES 

difficult and uncertain part of the work. Here over 30,000,000 
cubic yards of material, lying outside the intended banks of 
the Canal, was swept down into the cut. The excavation in 
the cut represents about one-half of the digging done by 
Americans. Slides frequently put the railroad system out of 
commission. Often they wrecked dirt trains and steam shovels. 
The work of removing the debris at Culebra took up many 
months. Colonel Goethals did the best he could, however. As 
an illustration, in 1909 the cost of removing a cubic yard of 
slide material was around 78 cents for the whole cut. With the 
slides more troublesome in 19 12 the cost was forced down 
to 55 cents. Fourteen per cent of the total excavation of 
19 1 3 was from slides. The Canal locks were ready ten months 
before Culebra was in shape. But for the slides, ships would 
have been going through that much earlier. And when the 
passage of ships became possible, dredges were still at work in 
the cut. 

The length of the Canal from deep water to deep water 
is fifty miles, and from the two shore lines, forty miles. It 
takes ten hours to make the trip. (It requires only sixteen 
hours for ships to pass through the Suez Canal, eighty-six 
miles long, but there are no locks.) Vessels passing from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific successively go through the approach 
channel in Limon Bay, onward seven miles to the Gatun 
locks, where three locks lift them eighty-five feet to the level 
of Gatun Lake ; thence through the lake to Bas Obispo and 
Culebra Cut ; thence through the cut for nine miles to Pedro 
Miguel, where they are lowered thirty feet by lock to a small 
lake ; thence one and a half miles to Miraflores, where two 
locks in series drop them to the Pacific level ; passing out into 
the Pacific through a channel about eight and a half miles 
long. This channel- has a bottom width of 500 feet. The chan- 
nel in Culebra Cut has a minimum bottom width of 300 feet. 

Gatun Lake was formerly the valley through which the 
turbulent Chagres River flowed into the sea. The problem of 
controlling the flood waters of the river was most difficult, 
for the heavy tropical rains come down the mountain sides 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 479 

into the narrow valley with such force that the river has 
been known to rise more than twenty-five feet in twenty- four 
hours. To control the flood the great Gatun Dam was built, 
holding back the waters and forming Gatun Lake, which has 
risen to cover about 164 square miles. The spillway of Gatun 
Dam, made of concrete on a rock foundation, permits the flow 
of 154,000 cubic feet per second. The normal flow through 
this spillway operates the hydro-electric plant which supplies 
power and light for the operation of the Canal, there being 
enough power available for any probable demand for years 
to come. Nearly everything about the Canal is run by elec- 
tricity, and recently the engineers have been considering sub- 
stituting electric power for steam on the Panama Railroad. 
The entire length of the Canal is so well lighted that pas- 
sage at night is practically as safe as during the day. 




THE COMPLETED GATUN LOCKS, LOOKING NORTH TOWARD THE 
ATLANTIC ENTRANCE. 



48o 



OUR COLONIES 



In passing through Gatun Lake, vessels get valuable ser- 
vice for which no additional charge is made. One of the most 
expensive items of salt-water navigation is the accumulation 
of barnacles on ships' bottoms, which in time become so 
numerous as to impede the progress of even a powerful steam- 
ship. For this reason ships have to go into dry dock and 
get scraped at regular intervals. Fresh water, however, is 
fatal to the barnacles. The vessels going through Gatun Lake 
are thus relieved of their troublesome burdens of marine 
mollusks. 

The Gatun locks comprise the largest monolithic concrete 
structure ever built. Like the locks at the Pacific end, they 
are built in pairs, to reduce the danger of accident and increase 
efficiency. Five different lengths of chamber are provided by 
intermediate gates, so that there is no waste of water or time, 
such as would be the case were a 500-foot ship lifted in a 
1, 000- foot chamber. The weight of the largest Gatun lock 




STEAMSHIP ANCON PASSING THROUGH GATUN LOCKS, JUNE II, I914.0 
THE FIRST LARGE SHIP TO PASS THROUGH. 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 481 




THE STEAMSHIP SANTA CLARA ENTERING MIRAFLORES LOCKS UNDER 
TOW OF ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES, JUNE IC;, I914. 

gate is 1,483,700 pounds, and it cost a little over four cents 
a pound. There are forty-six lock gates in the Canal, all 
made of steel plates, riveted to structural steel frames. Their 
total weight is 118,488,100 pounds. Vessels are raised or 
lowered in the locks at the rate of three feet a minute. All 
gates and valves are operated by electricity. 

Vessels are not permitted to pass through the locks under 
their own power, but are towed by electric locomotives, four 
to a ship. These are among the most interesting features of 
the Canal, but one does not hear them called electric locomo- 
tives there. When I was a boy in Pennsylvania I used to 
like to follow the tow path of the canal until I met a canal 
boat, and got a chance to help drive the mules. It was nearly 

as much fun as riding the elephant on circus day. In my mind 
32 



482 OUR COLONIES 

the mule is identified with canals. So I was not surprised 
that everybody else, including the makers of the electric loco- 
motives, as they watched these wonderful little engines at 
work, spoke of them familiarly as "the mules." 

The "mules" cost $13,217 each, and there are three dozen 
of them. They run on tracks laid on the lock walls and have 
gear wheels operating on racks between the rails, to keep 
them from being pulled off the tracks by the towing strain. 
Should a towing line break, the ship can be prevented from 
colliding with the lock gates by chain fenders which extend a 
hundred feet ahead of each gate. Emergency dams can be 
swung into place in the event of any accident to the gates. 

There are certain works which were in use in the final 
stages of the construction work of the Canal that can be 
cleared away. One of these is the pontoon bridge. The road- 
way of the Panama Railroad had to be shifted many times 
during the construction, but it was an important aid, and con- 
tinues to be. The sight of a train crossing the pontoon bridge 
at Paraiso was novel. 

At Colon, on the Atlantic, or rather at Cristobal, they 
were recently working on the big coaling station, building the 
reloading bridge. The station at Colon has a storage capacity 
of five hundred thousand tons of coal, and the station at Bal- 
boa, at the Pacific end, has a capacity of three hundred thou- 
sand tons. The Canal Commission will sell coal to any vessels 
wanting it, but there will always be a hundred thousand tons 
in reserve for the United States navy, ready for emergency. 

I noted also the work being done on the wireless stations 
at Colon and Balboa. Wireless telegraphy has so many uses 
that the Government found it necessary to assert its right to 
control this means of communication. With the responsibili- 
ties that it has at Panama it could not afford that its equip- 
ment should be incomplete. The Canal stations are now in 
communication with the great tower near Washington, D. C 



I 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

TOLLS AND A FREE PORT. 

T IS difficult to estimate what the traffic through the Canal 
is going to be in the future. The European nations 
having gone to war just when the big waterway was opened 
for their cargoes has upset all calculations. That the tolls 
would pay operating expenses seemed doubtful. However, 
though the European war had largely curtailed shipping activi- 
ties, Colonel Goethals reported as this book was sent to press, 
that the Canal traffic was exceeding expectations, indicating 
that within a year the tolls might pay operating expenses, but, 
of course, no interest on the enormous investment. 

In accordance with the Canal Act of August 24, 19 12, the 
following rates of tolls are to be paid by vessels passing 
through the Canal : 

1. On merchant vessels carrying passengers or cargo, 
$1.20 per net vessel ton — each 100 cubic feet — of actual earn- 
ing capacity. 

2. On vessels in ballast, without passengers or cargo, 40 
per cent less than the rate of tolls for vessels with passen- 
gers or cargo. 

3. Upon naval vessels, other than transports, colliers, hos- 
pital ships and supply ships, 50 cents per displacement ton. 

4. Upon army and navy transports, colliers, hospital ships 
and supply ships, $1.20 per net ton, the vessels to be measured 
by the same rules as are employed in determining the net 
tonnage of merchant vessels. 

For a fair-sized freight vessel, it is estimated, the tolls 
amount to about $5,000. This is, of course, only a nominal 
charge, considering that ships save a 10,000-mile voyage around 
South America, but it is probably all the traffic will stand. 
Operating expenses of the Canal are estimated at about 

483 



484 OUR COLONIES 

$4,000,000 a year. The interest on the huge investment, how- 
ever, is $20,000,000 a year, indicating a continuous fixed charge 
of nearly $25,000,000 per year, which in time will bring the 
American cost of the Canal to my estimate of $1,000,000,000. 

The Canal rules require tolls to be paid in cash, except 
that in the case of steamship companies having boats fre- 
quently using the Canal they may be paid by check or draft, 
if prompt payment of same has been assured by depositing 
with the Canal authorities at least $15,000 worth of accepta- 
ble bonds. 

Upon my last visit I found that the Canal Zone had 
changed materially since I first saw it. Then it was filled with 
clusters of buildings, created by the Canal Commission, in 
which to house the workers and officers. And there were the 
native villages and the natives themselves. Some of these 
villages were along the route of the waterway, and as the 
construction progressed they were drowned out, or would 
have been, had not the Canal Commission moved them away. 
It is the idea of Colonel Goethals, the chief builder of the 
Canal and present Governor, that the Zone should be denuded 
of human habitations. That is naturally the military idea, but 
the Canal is for commerce. So on either side of the Canal I 
found only tropical jungles and wilderness. Many people 
have argued that the Zone lands ought to be settled upon and 
cultivated by Americans. This will be done some day. Colonel 
Goethals is firmly of the opinion that this priceless piece of 
work can better be defended by leaving the obstructing jungle 
on either hand. Knowing what that jungle is, I agree with 
him that it would beat barbed wire entanglements in keeping 
a foe at a distance, but this is a peace Canal. 

One of the new sights to me was the fortifications in the 
Bay of Panama. The fortifications are upon the islands of 
Perico, Naos, and Flamenco, which were ceded to the United 
States as part of the Canal Zone. The islands occupy a posi- 
tion in the Pacific commanding the western approach to the 
Canal. Some of the largest guns and mortars ever con- 
structed are already being placed in position upon these 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 485 

islands. At Balboa, on the mainland, another set of fortifi- 
cations will be established, while on the Atlantic side there 
will be forts on Margarita Point, north of Colon, another on 
Toro Point, across the bay from Colon, and one on the main- 
land at Colon. In the neighborhood of the canal locks at 
Gatun, Miraflores, and Pedro Miguel, there will be con- 



m 

"■ 'mm 

mm 

M 
\ 1 Si 

i§ ' 

i % n 
' ill 

^ a ■ \ 













VTEW IN THE JUNGLE OF THE PANAMA REPUBLIC. 



486 OUR COLONIES 

structed strong field defenses to provide against possible 
attacks by landing forces. In these fortifications strong sec- 
tions of the United States army are to be maintained. Of 
course, detailed description or photographs of these fortifica- 
tions are not permitted by the Government, which is right. 
However, we may rest assured that big things are being done, 
since about $4,000,000 has already been expended on the 
project, Congress having appropriated over $10,000,000 for 
these prime defensive works. 

But to revert to the Canal. I do not want to offend my 
South American friends by calling any of their countries a 
part of our own chain of United States colonies; they are not; 
but in watching the first freight vessels go through the Canal, 
and in talking of prospective cargoes, it occurred to me that 
these West Coast countries might, in point of results, be con- 
sidered our commercial colonies, or, if they prefer to put it the 
other way, they might call us their commercial colony. The 
Canal traffic, at any rate, is going to bring us closer together. 

I heard, while at the Canal, that the port of Guayaquil, 
Ecuador, at last is going to sanitate itself so as to get some of 
the benefits of the Big Ditch, and to insure the better mar- 
keting of its cacao, rubber, coffee, hides, ivory nuts, and 
Panama hats, in the United States. Peru is also considering 
making Callao a port capable of taking care of big vessels 
that could bring out her cargoes of copper, wool and sugar. 
Chile, since my visit to that country, has made a good deal of 
headway with the port of Valparaiso and has also improved 
some of her other ports. Chilean nitrates were among the first 
cargoes that went through the Canal, and these are being 
followed by copper from the great Guggenheim mines, and 
by other products. This is only the beginning of a vast vol- 
ume of commerce flowing between South America and the 
United States. Especially must this come true since the 
European war opens the way for augmented trade between 
our nation and the republics to the south of us. 

In order to stimulate this trade, and make our huge Canal 
investment profitable to us, I am confidently putting forward 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 487 

a plan to make the Canal Zone a free port, and, through the 
influence of this fact, to create a world-wide city at the 
Canal for the exchange free of duty of our commodities with 
the South American republics and other nations. 

I here quote from an address which I made a year ago 
before the Southern Commercial Congress at Mobile, Ala- 
bama, and which was published afterward by the United 
States Senate as Senate Document JJJ.* 

"The definition of a free port is : 'A harbor where the 
ships of all nations may enter on paying a moderate toll and 
load and unload. The free ports constitute great depots 
where goods are stored without paying duty; these goods 
may be reshipped free of duty. The intention of having free 
ports is to stimulate and facilitate exchange and trade.' 

"There is no reason why the Canal Zone cannot be made 
into a city of 500,000 people in twenty years and produce 
sufficient income from dockage, tolls, taxes, rents, leases, etc., 




UPPER GATES OF GATUN LOCKS, PARTLY OPEN. TAKEN BEFORE WATER 

WAS LET INTO LOCKS. 



488 OUR COLONIES 

to pay the interest on at least the original capital invested by 
the United States. We have 286,720 acres inside the Canal 
Zone. Already many millions of dollars have been spent to 
make the Zone sanitary and a desirable place to live in the 
year round. Nearly all of this will be a complete loss unless 
we build a great city there. The Panama Railroad, for which 
we paid millions and spent millions more to move and rebuild, 
will be a 'white elephant' on our hands, on the basis of invest- 
ment, unless we build a big city at that point. 

"Through the stimulus arising from making the Canal Zone 
a free port, a great commercial city can be built along the 
whole Canal from one end to the other with docks everywhere. 
This city would become a great commercial clearing house 
not only for the merchants and manufacturers of North, Cen- 
tral and South America, but for the whole world. Trade in 
every republic on the American Continent is necessarily more 
or less restricted by a protective tariff, therefore, we need one 
spot, at least, for free exchange. It it just as necessary as a 
clearing house for the great banks in our big cities. 

"Remember, the entire Canal is a land-locked, fresh-water 
harbor, berthing the largest vessels in the world, where bar- 
nacles can be scraped off the bottoms of ships — an advantage 
possessed by only one other great inland port city in the world. 
The building of a big metropolis on the Canal Zone is no 
experiment, no wild theory. It has been successfully worked 
out and proved by Germany and England and a number of 
smaller countries. 

"The only way to create a big city at the central point 
between North and South America, the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans, the Far East and the Far West, is to make the Canal 
Zone a free city and free port. By this I mean free from 
import or export duties into and out from the Canal Zone. 
This will not affect the primary question of tolls for passing 
through the Canal. If created a free port and protected 
through international treaty, so it could not be affected by 
changes in our administration or home policies, merchants and 
manufacturers from all over the world would build factories 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 489 

and warehouses and establish branches and agencies at this 
World Center for quick distribution, delivery and sale. Many 
South Americans would establish agencies and branches there 
to reach the world's commerce. In fact, it would become an 
immense World's Department Store where everything for the 
use of the people of all nations could be found. It would 





1 




■"■•■" ■■" "■"■ SZZZL* ■ ■ mil 2 ■■■■ -. ■ 







PEDRO MIGUEL LOCKS AT NIGHT, SHOWING ELECTRICAL ILLUMINATION 

OF THE CANAL. 



become the greatest transshipping port in the world, especially 
as many boats suitable for the Pacific Ocean are not sea- 
worthy or insurable on the Atlantic Ocean. 

"As lawyers put it : 'What you have been saying is testi- 
mony — give us evidence of what a free port or city will do 
toward creating a metropolis of half a million in a few years.' 
Here is the evidence : Hamburg, Germany ; Copenhagen, 
Denmark ; Gibraltar ; Hong Kong ( formerly Chinese, now 
British) ; Singapore; Punta Arenas, Chile; Aden, on the Red 
Sea, and the Island of St. Thomas, near Porto Rico. 



49o OUR COLONIES 

"After Great Britain had taken Gibraltar from Spain, and 
that country would not deal with Gibraltar, the Sultan of 
Morocco forced the British Government, in 1705, to make a 
free port of Gibraltar by refusing to supply the food necessary 
to maintain the fortress, unless all import and export duty was 
taken off. The law of necessity caused the most powerful 
Government in the world, more than two hundred years ago, to 
establish the first free zone on a little rock pile three miles long 
by one-half mile wide, controlling the entrance to the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. Here is Lesson No. 1, that should not be over- 
looked. Today there is a population of 27,000 at Gibraltar 
and over 4,000,000 ship tonnage is cleared yearly. As there 
is no duty, only a tax on tobacco and liquors, there are no 
statistics on the annual business. 

"Hamburg, Germany (before the 1914 war), was a notable 
example of the benefits of free exchange. Hamburg, through 
this wise policy, became the greatest port in Europe. In 1888, 
2,500 acres of the harbor of this inland city were set apart as 
a free harbor, where ships could unload and load without 
custom duties. A gigantic system of docks, basins and quays 
was constructed at an initial cost of $35,000,000, which at 
present-day cost would be double. A portion of the old town 
containing 24,000 people was cleared to make room for this 
great project. After that Hamburg grew enormously, reach- 
ing the third position as a port in the world, with over 1,000,- 
000 population, being the second largest city in Germany. 
Without question the free zone of the harbor had a great 
influence on the expansion of Hamburg as a port. 

"Copenhagen is the most important commercial town of 
Denmark. The trading facilities were greatly augmented in 
1894 by making a portion of the harbor a free port. It has 
had a marked effect on the trade of Copenhagen and Denmark. 

"Hong Kong Island and City is a British possession 
acquired from China in 1841. Hong Kong is a free port and 
has no customhouse, and its commercial activities are chiefly 
distributive for a large portion of the Far East, much as the 
Panama Canal Zone would become if made a free port. The 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 491 

only commodity that pays a duty at Hong Kong is opium. 
Owing to the fact that it is a free port, official figures on its 
trade cannot be had, as in the case of ports that collect custom 
duties, but since it was made a free port the population has 
increased from a few thousand to 456,739. From this port 
there is an immense exchange of commodities between Great 
Britain and her colonies, the ports of China, Japan and the 
United States. This fact, investigation shows, is largely due 
to the advantages arising from the fact that the port of Hong 
Kong is free from custom duties to all nations. 

"Singapore is another good example. It is the capital of 
the British Straits Settlements, and lies about midway between 
Hong Kong and Calcutta, India, and close to the Malay 
Archipelago. It is less than 100 miles north of the equator, 
or 500 miles farther south than the Panama Canal Zone. It 
has good advantages of position, but above all, the policy of 
absolute free trade has made Singapore the center of a trans- 
shipping trade that is surpassed in the Orient only by Hong 
Kong and one or two of the great Chinese ports. The con- 
tinuously rapid growth of Singapore and the Straits Settle- 
ments, of which it is the capital, has fully demonstrated the 
wisdom of this policy. In 1819 when the region was ceded to 
Great Britain that portion of the country had almost no busi- 
ness or population. At present Singapore's free exports and 
imports exceed $500,000,000 annually, or about one-seventh 
of the total imports and exports of the whole United States. 
There are no custom duties except on opium. The population 
is about 275,000. Neither Hong Kong nor Singapore is as 
well situated for international trade or enjoys as good and 
healthful climate as the Panama Canal Zone. 

"Port Said is another case in point. The building of the 
Suez Canal created the city of Port Said on a sandpile at the 
entrance to the Canal from the Mediterranean Sea, with fresh 
water 125 miles away. It is about the "livest wire" of any 
city in the world — at least, that I have ever visited. It has 
over 100,000 population, and except for an Egyptian duty on 



492 OUR COLONIES 

many articles would be a great trading center for others than 
tourists. 

"Aden, situated on a strip of British territory in Arabia, 
on the Red Sea, where nothing grows and fresh water must 
be brought a long distance, has 50,000 population on account 
of its being a free port and city. 

"Punta Arenas, Chile, on the Straits of Magellan, the farth- 
est south of any city in the world, is a free port and city, 
and has a population of 15,000. I was surprised at its impor- 
tance and its fine stone buildings and good streets. The only 
local support of Punta Arenas is wool and sheep, mostly from 
the old Patagonia country of Argentina and the island of 
Tierra del Fuego. Its importance arises chiefly from its being 
a free port, permitting a Chilean city to trade duty free with 
Argentina. 

"The free exchange of commodities, on account of there 
being no duty, import or export, put the island of St. Thomas, 
near Porto Rico, belonging to Denmark, on the map. It is a 
good example of what no export or import duty will do for a 
poor, out-of-the-way island. Nearly every excursion to the 
West Indies docks there to trade. Its one port carries the 
largest stock and does the greatest Panama hat trade in the 
world. Many vessels coal there. It has a great trade with all 
the West India Islands. 

"England has tried out the free port and free city idea 
thoroughly and this is what the Encyclopedia Britannica says : 
Tn countries where custom duties are levied, if an extension 
of foreign trade is desired, special facilities must be granted 
for this purpose. In view of this a free zone sufficiently 
large for commercial purposes must be set aside. English 
colonial free ports, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, do 
not interfere with the regular home customs of India and 
China. These two free harbors have become great shipping 
ports and distributing centers. The policy which led to their 
establishment as free ports has greatly promoted British com- 
mercial interests.' " 

I was fully convinced after visiting Singapore and Hong 



PANAMA CANAL ZONE AND REPUBLIC 493 

Kong during the past year, that we should make the splendid 
port of Manila a free port and city, or we can never expect 
to secure, develop and hold our share of the trade of the 
Orient. Secretary of State Bryan stated to me that he strongly 
favored this policy in the development of our colonies, and the 
Panama Canal Zone is our most important colony. 

This question is a paramount one in the development of 
our commercial relationship with South America and other 
countries; besides, it will make the Panama Canal pay. If 
we do not act soon some other country owning one of the 
West India Islands, well located to trade with ships passing 
through the Canal, will take advantage of the situation. 
Already the Panama Republic intends to benefit from our 
investments in the Canal by creating a free city bordering on 
the Canal Zone. We should not stop short with the comple- 
tion of the Canal, but continue the great enterprise to a more 
notable, as well as profitable, conclusion, by extending our 
commerce and trade, not only with South America, but with 
the entire world. I sincerely hope it may never be necessary 
to use the big Canal to pass our navy quickly from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, and vice versa, in times of war. But if the 
necessity arises, without question we will find it "mighty 
handy." 

The Panama Canal is the greatest industrial undertaking 
ever attempted and successfully carried to completion by any 
nation of the world, and we should all feel proud of our coun- 
try, and that we are citizens of the United States of North 
America. 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 

CUBA 

Area, 44,164 square miles, about the size of the State of Penn- 
sylvania — Population, 1913, 2,382,990; of this number 
6/1,4/2 are blacks — Chief resources, tobacco, sugar, coffee, 
cacao, tropical fruits, asphalt, copper, iron, timber, cattle, 
vegetables — Total imports, 1913, $118,937,000; exports, 
$146,676,000; impork from the United States, $70,581,154; 
exports to the Unitejd States, $126,088,173 — Miles of rail- 
way, about 2,075; miles of telegraph line, 5,065 — Total 
debt, 19 1 4, $67,620,000 — Rural Guards, 5,298 men; regular 
army, 11,105 — Navy, 2 cruisers, 13 revenue cutters and 
steam launches — Capital, Havana, population, 324,146 — 
President, General Mario G. Menocal. 

CHAPTER L. 

HAVANA AND CIGARS. 
T WAS five o'clock in the morning. A great red sun in a 
bank of fog marked the entrance to Havana harbor. 
Morro's light flashed over the waters. 

"Great Scott, but this city's changed !" sighed the loquacious 
New York tobacco buyer, as he leaned over the rail. "Why, 
when I first sailed past Cabanas' guns, twenty years ago, this 
place was as Spanish as a castanet. Look at the Malecon 
tonight — you'll think you're in Atlantic City!" 

That first day I did not think Cuba's famed capital espe- 
cially attractive. I thought the harbor small, the town flat, the 
streets clean, but not picturesque. 

It is when night falls that the city charms. Now she is 
vivacious, sparkling. Rich and poor, young and old come into 
the parks to play. Dark-eyed beauties throng the boulevards. 
Music and laughter and the clink of glasses sound far into the 

495 



1 




,. T ~ 7 ^ 



CUBA 



497 



night. Like a lily of the tropics, La Habana blooms under 
the stars. 

Next morning Monch, the tobacco buyer, offered to serve 
as guide. He hailed one of the coaches which swarmed about 
us and just then a courteous policeman handed him a card 
bearing the number of the coach and the telephone number 
of the chief of police — a municipal precaution against cab 
driver extortion. 

"There's certain things here you'll have to see," said 
Monch, "before we go down to the real show in Vuelta 
Abajo — the place which put Havana on the map. Suppose 
you may as well check off the old castles first." So we drove 
to La Fuerza. I quote my guide : 

"Hernando de Soto built this old fort way back in the 
sixteenth century. When he went West to discover the Mis- 
sissippi, he left his bride, Lady Isabel, behind. They say she 
hung over that rail for four years waiting his return. And 
he in a watery grave!" 

We crossed the bay to Morro Castle, which stands on guard 
where the harbor gate meets the sea. 




SOLDIERS MARCHING INTO OLD HAVANA FORTRESS, LA FUERZA, 
33 BUILT IN I538. 



CUBA 



499 



Again the guide : "Here, one hundred and fifty years ago, 
Velasco, the Brave, refused to surrender to the British and 
died a hero. Spain said that a ship in her navy should always 
bear his name. Dewey, you know, sank a gallant Velasco 
off Manila." 

We went on to Cabanas which stretches the entire length 
of the hill opposite Havana. 

"See the bullet marks up there on the wall? They call 
that 'the dead line.' It's where the Cubans were lined up 
and shot by the Spaniards." 

When Morro Castle was completed, three hundred years 

ago, Spain's King, so the story goes, stood on top of his castle 

in Madrid and was looking westward with his long-distance 

field glass. A bishop approached and asked the King what he 

va.s trying to see. 

The King replied, "We are dedicating Morro Castle, 
Havana." 




CATHEDRAL AT HAVANA, IN WHICH THE BONES OF COLUMBUS REPOSED 
UNTIL TAKEN TO SPAIN AT CLOSE OF SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 



5oo 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



"But, oh, King," the bishop remarked, "Havana is three 
thousand miles away ! You can't see so far !" 

"Well," said the King, "I ought to be able to see Morro 
Castle, anyhow, for it cost sixty million dollars !-" 

I had had about enough of forts and suggested churches. 

"There are not any very interesting ones," said the man 
who knew the town. "There's the cathedral. You can look 
at a niche in the wall where the bones of Christopher Columbus 
used to rest. At least the Cubans say they were his bones. 
Down in Santo Domingo they say they were his son's. Anyway, 
they are not there any longer— were carried off to Spain when 
we took Cuba." 

We drove through Central Park, the pulsing heart of 
Havana, with its statue of Jose Marti, the Liberator, along the 
magnificent Prado with its double drive flanked by attractive 
homes; down Obispo and up O'Reilly, narrow canvas-covered 
lanes, the main business thoroughfares. Here the shops are a 
woman's paradise — Spanish laces ; French embroideries ; Mexi- 




ENTRANCE TO THE TEMPLETE, HAVANA, A CHAPEL MARKING 
THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS CELEBRATED IN HAVANA. 



CUBA 



501 



can drawn-work; Italian corals; Irish linen — a cosmopolitan 
exhibit, provincially displayed. 

I was surprised to find so many pure-blooded Spaniards 
among the merchants. They also do most of the banking, 
although there are some Canadian and American banks. One 
of the time-honored customs of the Spanish merchant is to 
eat his meals in his store. If you pass along the street at 
breakfast time, eleven o'clock, and look into the shops, you 
will see business suspended, the table spread in the middle of 
the room and proprietor and clerks sitting down to their meal 
in the midst of their goods. They are good business men, and 
in commerce lies Spain's reconquest of Cuba. 




STATUE OF JOSE MARTI, THE LIBERATOR, HAVANA. 



502 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 




LOOKING DOWN THE PRADO, HAVANA, 



It is safer to drive than to walk through the narrow streets 
in the old part of the town. There are five thousand victorias 
in the city ; besides automobiles, taxicabs and the native gua- 
guas (omnibuses) and with electric cars scraping the curbs, 
the pedestrian has to be careful. 

And here arises the delicate question of the "right of way." 
There is no rule of keeping to the right, as in the United 
States. When two Cuban women meet, color of skin and 
glory of raiment determine the inner path — the one next the 
wall, where rain from the eaves doesn't splash. At the turn 
of a corner, I saw a very fat woman in pink standing midway 
of the walk, glaring at an equally fat woman in blue. Number 
Two won — her hair was straighter. Of course the ladies of 
the upper class drive. Cuba has long been noted for the beauty 
of her women. They are seen at their best on the fashionable 
promenade, the Malecon, in the winter season, when the capital 
is crowded with American tourists. 



CUBA 



503 



The rich tourist pays more for a steak at the Miramar than 
he does for the same cut at the best hotel in New York. But 
he gets a fine climate and fine touring roads for his money. 
If he is a sport he can attend the cock fight, play poker and 
even take a chance at faro and roulette — on the sly. Havana 
is almost the size of Washington, with 325,000 inhabitants, and 
one-third of them are negroes, exactly the same proportion as 
in our capital. The color line is not drawn so narrowly as in 
the United States, and many who are "slightly tinted" are 
passed for white. 

Although two years ago we read of a negro uprising in 
Cuba, we little understand the serious proportions it assumed. 
At many places American marines were landed, but the Gov- 
ernment was unable to cope with 
the situation. The outbreak was 
the manifestation of the negroes 
for a national political party. 
Even Havana had its perilous 
hours. The negro population is so 
commingled with the whites that 
one did not know whether to trust 
his own servant. The hot-headed 
whites announced that on a certain 
Saturday afternoon and Sunday 
no negro should cross Central Park, 
in the heart of the city. Fortu- 
nately it rained as it had seldom 
rained before, and this was all that 
saved Havana from a disgraceful 
race riot. 

In June, 19 14, the negroes in 
Oriente Province formed a political 
party, calling themselves Amigos 
del Pueblo (Friends of the People). 
The principal movers behind the 
organization are Lacoste and Surin, 
two of the Lieutenants under Gen- 
erals Estenoz and Yvonet, leaders 




A CUBAN NEGRESS. 



504 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



of the race uprising two years ago. The Generals were killed, 
but the lives of the Lieutenants were spared. 

The object of this negro party is to compel the whites to 
hand over more of the political offices of the country and the 
members even acknowledge such "high-minded motives" in 
their literature. They say that they did most of the fighting 
during the revolution and are entitled to a large per cent of the 
offices. 

The Cubans have forgiven Spain for shooting their patriots, 
but they can never forgive the United States for abolishing 
the bull fight, cock fight and lottery. The two latter "indus- 



* 




\ ' V^i ** t~* ^~ w* 




A BASEBALL TEAM, HAVANA. 

tries" were resumed when the Cuban flag broke to the breeze, 
but they were too afraid of a third intervention to reinstate 
the bull fight. The high gambling game of jai-alai, which 
formerly operated a percentage concession with the Govern- 
ment, is still under the ban. 

This is purely a Spanish game originating in the Basque 
provinces, but bearing a resemblance to our handball. The 
professional players came from Spain and it was Cuba's most 
popular game of chance. 

The plan to make Havana the Monte Carlo of America 



CUBA 



505 



received a surprising setback when, on December 31, 191 2, 
President Gomez issued an order that the anti-gambling laws 
should be enforced. There was consternation in the great 
"Winter Playground," and in the way of gambling it has not 
been so lively since, which, however much certain Cubans may 
grumble, is not a misfortune. 

There is one Northerner who never sees Cuba — Jack Frost 
— but by way of Palm Beach and the "ocean-going ferries" 
from Key West conies the American millionaire, bringing along 
his touring car, which is wisely admitted free of duty. The 
Cubans receive him kindly and proceed to absorb his loose 
change. He is dubbed locally, Pato de Florida (Florida duck), 
and being naturally a "good spender" has earned the honor of 




SCENE IN THE PLAZA, HAVANA. 



CUBA 



5o7 



a poem in a Havana English paper — the first stanza running: 

Oh, the Florida Duck is a festive bird; 
The famous goose of whom ye've heard, 
That laid gold eggs, was a piker jay- 
Compared to the subject of this here lay. 

The Country Club of Havana, having completed an eight- 
een-hole golf course, is naturally very popular with the "ducks." 

Probably the most interesting feature of Havana is its clubs. 
They are the largest social organizations in the world. The 
Asturian and the Clerks' Club have each over 30,000 names on 
their rolls and the Gallego follows with 24,000. Including the* 
membership in the many smaller clubs, it is estimated that fully 
one-third of the population are within these organizations. 
As two-thirds of the people must be women and children, it is 



jm_ 




^fei 




STATUE OF COLUMBUS AT THE PALACE, HAVANA. 



508 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

apparent that almost every man in Havana is a "clubman. '* 
Then, too, the most beautiful building in the capital today is the 
Clerks' Club. It occupies a whole square and cost $1,000,000. 
Its magnificent ballroom holds 3,000 couples at carnival time ; 
its dining-room has 200 tables; and its billiard-room is the 
largest on earth. This club is unique, for while the dues are 
but $1.50 a month, each member has the privilege of the gym- 
nasium, baths and instruction classes ; the right to send his 
children to the club's kindergarten, private, grammar and 
high schools, and his wife to the department for expert instruc- 
tion in sewing, cooking and domestic science. The club has 
its own surgeons, oculists and dentists ; its own tubercular 
hospital and a private sanatorium for the insane. All this is 
covered by the $1.50 a month! I believe they have to pay for 
the gold used by the dentist and the glasses prescribed by the 
oculist. Cubans have learned much from the Americans, but 
this cooperative club work is one of the things Americans 
might study with profit. 

One evening I joined a group of compatriots at a cafe. It 
was midnight and miles of such places, open to the street and 
ablaze with light, had begun to fill up. I noticed that half the 
Cubans who crowded the place were taking either coffee or 
chocolate ; the other half were having their one glass of rum 
and water, or a bottle of red wine. And that was the end of 
it. They seemed welcome to sit as long as they pleased over 
the one glass. No scurrying waiter to insist on another order. 
Drunkenness is not one of the sins to be charged to the account 
of the Cuban. The hard drinking is given over to the for- 
eigner. They tell of one American, who, during a birthday 
celebration, staggered to his feet as a cafe orchestra struck up 
"Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight." Noticing that the 
Cubans remained seated, he waved his arms and roared, 
"Stand up! you blamed Spickadees, an' salute the tune that 
made yer free !" 

However, my American friends were fairly temperate, and 
as some of them had lived many years in the country, I heard 
much that was of interest. They agreed that Havana had 



CUBA 



509 





111 




become sufficient- 
ly Americanized 
to be pleasantly 
hospitable to 
Americans. This 
they credited to 
the " interven- 
tion" which had 
introduced side- 
walks, abolished 
mosquitoes, pop- 
ularized rubber 
tires, built elec- 
tric railways, in- 
troduced the sew- 
erage system, and 
generally made 



" r "I 


~ —MM 

Ife ] : ' ^ "» 



■ ' '': ' 



Havana more 
beautiful to the 
eye and nonof- 
f ensive to the 
nose. While still 
retaining its Span- 
ish character and 
Cuban peculiari- 
ties, the city shows 



„-„i|J 

ii II Si fi if II ii nm 




some public buildings of havana. top, plaza 

hotel; left, stock exchange; right, produce 

exchange; bottom, new postoffice, 



CUBA 



5" 



many effects of the ''Northern invasion." The Cuban belles 
even have given up the use of pulverized egg shells for face 
powder in favor of talcum. The world progresses even in 
Cuba, you see. 

Cuba's once fever-stricken capital now wins the record for 
low death rate among the cities of the world. But while they 
"die low," they certainly "live high." Last year the Govern- 
ment spent $38,000,000, or $15 for every man, woman and 
child under the flag, reckoning on a basis of a population of 
nearly 2,500,000. Our "billion-dollar Congress" cost us just 
$10 per capita, and the reformers cried "Fire !" Another rec- 
ord: Every Cuban pays $10 annually in customs duties. We 
pay $3.50 per capita and propose that it shall be less. 

One-third of the Government expenditure last year was 
charged under the head of administration, for Cuba has a 
bumper crop of officeholders — professional politicians. Still 
they are not a contented lot, for their "fly in the ointment" is 
the knowledge that the "outs" are continually scheming to 
oust them. 

Cuba elected a new President in 19 13, and symptoms 
that an uprising would follow the ballot count soon disap- 




DRAWING-ROOM TN THE PRESIDENT S PALACE, HAVANA. 



512 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



peared. General Menocal was defeated at the polls in a form- 
er attempt to fill the executive chair. He is a wealthy business 
man, and fits well the specification for "a good manager." He 
promised Cuba just what Cuba needed: curtailment of lavish 
expenditure, elimination of graft, reduction of tariff and all to 
the same end — making living cheaper and better — a wise and 
equable distribution of the burdens of taxation. He drew $50,- 
000 a year for managing the interests of the Sugar Trust in 
Cuba. The Presidency pays but $30,000. 

The calm following the election astonished the world. 
"Have the Cubans learned to be good losers?" was generally 
asked. It seems so. Perhaps the transplanting to Cuba of 
our baseball game has been a factor in bringing about this 
happy result. Our national game thrives on Cuban soil. It is 
played in every hamlet. Cubans take naturally to the sport 
and have become experts. They have even learned to abuse 
the umpire. I observed many evidences of progress in Cuba. 

As the very name of Cuba's capital means to the world a 
good cigar, I investigated the industry and found that there 




A REVIEW OF TROOPS AT THE PALACE. HAVANA. 



CUBA 



513 




GATEWAY TO COLON CEMETERY, HAVANA. 




THE LAUREL DITCH, HAVANA, WHERE CONDEMNED MEN 
34 WERE SHOT. 



5i4 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



are five grades of tobacco grown in the country; the strong 
heavy leaf in the east, growing better in the center of the 
island and reaching the climax in the famous Vuelta Aba jo 
section in the extreme west. 

I motored out to the west from Havana and found the 
roads as good as the climate — "Meester Magoon's roads" they 
are called by the Cubans. While all tobacco grown to the west 
of Havana is exported as Vuelta Aba jo, the real "Vuelta" 
comes from a very small section in the heart of Pinar del Rio. 
This is one of the three most valuable tracts of land on the 
face of the globe. The other two places are that portion of the 
Rhine Valley where a special wine-making grape is grown ; and 
the Kimberley diamond district. What is the magic of this 
priceless tobacco ground? To the eye, absolutely nothing — ■ 
dusty red loam on rather thin rocky hillsides. The ground is 




THE MANNER IN WHICH TOBACCO IS GROWN UNDER CHEESE- 
CLOTH IN CUBA. 



CUBA 



515 



fertilized with hay and the plants protected from the sun by 
cheesecloth. Still, neither science nor experience can tell 
just what makes Vuelta Abajo tobacco the acme of luxury. 

Anyway, if there is one thing the western Cuban does know, 
it is how to grow tobacco. With some of them, even the field 
hands, tobacco culture has been the business of the families 
for generations. These men insist that the plants must be 




EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT. A READER AT WORK IN A TOBACCO 

FACTORY, HAVANA. 



watered by hand and with no vessel but an oil can. This may 
be the great secret. After the leaves are gathered they are 
hung up to dry until the color changes from green to chestnut. 
Then follows the sweating and fermenting processes. When 
finally cured, the leaves are baled and sent to the factories. 
The majority of these large establishments are located in 
Havana. They are enormous structures divided into roomy 
halls. In these halls the cigareros sit back to back on long rows 
of double benches, the regulations not permitting them to face. 



CUBA 



Si? 



Machinery of any description is spurned, and they rely solely 
on the deftness of their fingers. The best cigars go to the 
Czar of Russia, and sell for $7.50 each — ten cents a puff. 

A unique feature of the factories is the presence of a 
"reader" mounted on a high platform, who solaces weary hours 
by reading aloud from a collection of daily papers and maga- 
zines, selected by a committee. 

I learned that Cuba exported over $45,000,000 worth of 
cigars and tobacco last year, placing this industry second only 
to the sugar. While he exported 180,000,000 cigars, the 
Cuban smoked exactly the same number. With true Latin 
politeness, before lighting his own cigar he gave one to the 
"stranger without." Over $17,000,000 in leaf tobacco was 
exported, certainly enough to flavor a few billion more 
"smokes." But when it comes to cigarettes, Cuba's home con- 
sumption just shifts the decimal point over so far that it really 




A TOBACCO FARMER S HOME, WESTERN CUBA. 



5i8 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 




.«;^|#';%.; 




A TOBACCO-CURING BARN, CUBA. 



becomes nervous. According to official figures, every man, 
woman and child in Cuba smokes nine boxes of cigarettes each 
month and consumes three boxes of matches in lighting them. 
Now who can deny that the production of smoke is Cuba's 
chief industry? 



CHAPTER LI. 

SPONGES AND THE ISLE) OF PINES. 
6 4T T J HAT are you going to do for the next few days?'' 
V V asked a companionable American whom I met in 
Havana. "Come along with me over to the Isle of Pines and 
I'll show you a real Treasure Island — an old pirate strong- 
hold." 

This caught my fancy. "Pirates" and "Treasure" are 
magic words to the average American. When my friend 
offered a glimpse of the sponge industry as an added attraction, 
I asked how soon we could start. 

We could go by rail next day, he said, thirty miles to Bata- 
bano on the south coast, but the train "made" all the watering 
tanks. Recalling the splendid roads in Pinar del Rio, I sug- 
gested that we motor down, and to this he agreed. 

The chauffeur with the forty-horsepower French car asked 
$15 for the journey, throwing in by way of a bait : "There's no 
speed limit, you know, on the country roads." As he paid 
forty-five cents a gallon for gasoline, we considered the fee 
reasonable. 

Out the wide Malecon we whirled, at considerably over the 
twelve-mile-an-hour city limit, receiving nothing more than a 
salute from the cycle policeman. On through Vedado, 
Havana's aristocratic suburb, with its long avenue of attractive 
homes set in luxurious gardens. Here the majority of the 
American colony reside. A fine road runs all the way to the 
south shore, now level, now broken by hills, but seldom ascend- 
ing a grade heavier than five per cent. It passes between 
thick clusters of Royal palms, those "feather dusters of the 
gods," native to Cuba. It was a Cuban palm, transplanted to 
Brazil in 1812, which became the mother of those wonderful 

519 



520 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



specimens that have made the Botanical Gardens of Rio de 
Janeiro famous. As I looked at them in Cuba they brought 
back memories of some of my most pleasant days in Brazil. 

The Cuban Government roads are nothing less than mag- 
nificent boulevards, wide, well crowned, without sharp curves, 
finished with macadam. We built many of them during the 
intervention and now the Cubans are keeping up the good 
work. We have built good roads first in our colonies and 
dependencies. We should get busy at home. 

A pinkish-reddish coloring is distinctive of western Cuba. 
The earth, the great carts drawn by oxen, the canvas covering 




ONE OF MANY PALM-LINED COUNTRY ROADS IN CUBA. 



522 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

the carts, the oxen themselves, the garments of the people at 
work in the tobacco and pineapple fields — all blend into this 
terra-cotta tone. And in sharp contrast — waving green palms ; 
the Royal poinciana in flaring bloom; rainbow-tinted houses, 
gayly caparisoned mules; song birds of gaudy plumage — a 
never-to-be-forgotten picture. 

We skirted great sugar plantations ; then little patches of 
garden truck, carefully tended for the Havana market. I 
never realized before how much the Cuban depends on the out- 
side world for foodstuffs. He bends every effort to raise 
record crops of sugar and tobacco and allows us to sell him 
shiploads of eggs and even canned vegetables. 

At one village, we stopped to look up "the store," as I had 
lost my cap in our mad flight. The clerk offered me his latest 
importation from the U. S. A. — a black woolen cap, lined with 
flannel and equipped with ear muffs, just the thing for the 
tropics ! Who says we Yankees are not out for the Latin- 
American trade ! 

I paid for my new headgear in Spanish silver, the only 
money accepted in the rural districts, although my American 
coin had been taken "without reluctance" in the capital. My 
traveling companion told me that during years spent in Cuba 
he had often carried five purses in his pocket at one time — 
one dedicated to American silver; a second to American gold 
and paper; a third to Spanish coin ; a fourth to Spanish silver; 
a fifth to French gold. Here is a chance for an American 
manufacturer to send out a portable, cosmopolitan cash 
register. 

Batabano, a sleepy, canal-fretted town inhabited by sponge 
fishermen, is near the site of the first settlement of Havana in 
1 5 15, but the city was soon afterward moved across the island 
to its more favorable and healthful location. We kept on to the 
port of Surgidero, three miles distant, to learn all we could 
about "sponging." I had heard that the water off shore at 
this point is milk-white and that Columbus, putting in to cork 
a boat or kidnap an Indian, considered it such a curiosity that 
he filled a bottle, as part of his exhibit for King Ferdinand. 



CUBA 



523 



That opalescent sea has changed to crystal. Today the waters 
are noted for their clearness and from among the twilight 
depths of sunken coral reefs the sponges are taken. 

They are gathered in a most primitive fashion. Just "get 
the hook," two men in a boat, one the sculler, the other the 
hooker, the latter assigned the work of detecting and catching 
the sponges. Over the side of the boat he leans, peering into 
the depths through his water telescope. The "sponge glass" 
is a bucket with a glass bottom used for dispelling reflection. 
The glass base is placed below the surface of the water and 

the hooker wears 
a wide-bri m m e d 
straw hat which 
cuts off a large pro- 
portion of direct 
light when his head 
is thrust into the 
bucket. Through 
the glass the bot- 
tom can be seen to 
the depth of fifty 
feet, and when a 
sponge is sighted 




the operator sig- 
nals the sculler to 
maneuver the boat 
into position, and 
strikes with his 
long hooked pole. 




SCENES FROM THE SPONGE INDUSTRY AT 
BATABANO, CUBA. 



524 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

When brought to the surface, the sponge is black and 
slimy. The laden boat is taken to a water pen — shallow water 
bordered by stakes — and the flowing tide gives the sponges a 
thorough washing. This requires about a week, when they 
are taken out, well squeezed and the living matter beaten out 
with sticks. The sponge of commerce is merely a skeleton, the 
supporting framework which once gave strength and form 
to the gelatinous tissues of the living creature. 

After drying, the sponges are again washed and sorted 
according to variety. And now comes the most interesting 
performance. The various buyers gather to inspect the exhibit, 
writing a separate bid for each pile. An official, appointed by 
the spongers, collects the bids and reads them off, awarding 
the lot to the highest bidder. The purchasers now forward 
their goods to packing warehouses where they are again cleaned 
and clipped into salable shape. The trimmed sponges are 
sorted for size and quality, pressed into bales, covered with 
burlap, and sent on their way to the near and far places of the 
earth. 

The American sponge fisheries are confined to the Carib- 
bean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and contribute more than 
two-thirds of the world's supply by weight, although the 
Mediterranean product leads in value, because of quality. 

An intelligent Cuban buyer in Batabano told me that 1,500 
men in the town are engaged in sponge fishing and 500 more 
in trimming and marketing. He said that some of the fisher- 
men dive for sponges, but that the sharks make this method 
dangerous. Over in Florida they wear a regular diving suit, 
but the "Spongers' Union" of Batabano will not permit its use 
as it tends to exterminate the sponge. The man was some- 
thing of a mathematician, and had figured out that Batabano's 
annual output, worth half a million dollars gold, could absorb 
over two million gallons of water. 

I boarded the little steamer Cristobal Colon on one of 
her tri-weekly trips to the Isle of Pines, sixty miles due south — ■ 
a ferry-like voyage over a shallow sea. I made the acquaint- 
ance of a much-traveled Cuban who had lived in the United 



CUBA 525 

States and spoke English fluently. He referred with great 
pride to the fact that his countrymen had just raised a fund to 
buy a home for Capablanca, the famous Cuban chess champion, 
and seemed disappointed that I had not heard much of the 
gentleman ; or of Cuba's great long distance runner — I think 
the name is Carvajal — who ran "second to Dorando at Rome" 
— or of Ramon Fonts, whom he termed "the world's amateur 
champion fencer." However, I rose in his estimation when I 
mentioned having once seen the great Cuban, Alfredo de Oro, 
who for years has been the world's pool champion. 

We sailed at seven in the evening, scheduled to reach the 
Isle of Pines early next day. It was a perfect night. The 
constellations glistened like diamonds in the clear tropic sky 
and a cool breeze fanned us as we glided over a calm, moonlit 
sea. I turned in reluctantly to find a comfortable cabin, even 
equipped with running water. 

Nueva Gerona, our morning port, still retains its Spanish 
aspect. There is no sign from the sea of the hustling Ameri- 
can invasion. So this was Treasure Island — the very isle 
from which the most ferocious of that pack of sea wolves of 
the seventeenth century sallied forth to attack the lumbering 
Spanish galleons laden with Incan gold, the loot of Peru! 
They left a heritage of buried treasure tales, but there is no 
authoritative report of unearthed riches. Not the buried 
wealth of pirates, but sturdy American enterprise is making a 
paradise of this little isle today, proving that the real treasure 
lies in the fertility of the soil. 

How came our fellow countrymen here? "Once upon a 
time," about twelve years ago, a timber hunter was attracted 
over from Cuba by rumors of vast mahogany and cedar forests. 
In crossing the island he sensed the possibilities of its broad val- 
leys and bought 17,500 acres for $200, then associated other 
Americans with him and turned the island into a modern real- 
estate scheme. 

After the Spanish-American War, President McKinley and 
Secretary Hay believed the island to be American territory, 
and so did the settlers who flocked in. Then came the opinion 



526 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 




H. A. CHRISTY S ESTATE, ISLE OF PINES. 



of President Roosevelt and Secretary Root that the lesser 
island belonged to Cuba. The Piatt amendment declared the 
question of title open for adjustment and the matter was later 
arranged by treaty, giving Cuba title to the island in exchange 
for Cuban sites for United States naval stations. But this has 
not yet been affirmed by the United States Senate. And so, 
while the flag of Cuba flies over the public buildings, the Stars 
and Stripes decorate the roof-tree of ninety-five per cent of all 
the property holders who have converted wide grazing lands 
into rich citrus orchards, after years of patience and toil. 

The 3,000 Americans on the island come from all parts of 
the States — many of them are from western New York, Ohio, 
Michigan and Wisconsin. As in other pioneer colonies, they 
have brought along the church, school and printing press. 
During the intervention, $150,000 was spent in building one 
hundred miles of highway, and today there are over one hun- 
dred automobiles in commission. 

There are 6,000 acres of citrus fruit under cultivation. I 
have never tasted more delicious oranges, and the grapefruit 



CUBA 



527 



is in a class by itself. It is the market price of grapefruit 
which determines the real prosperity of the settlement. Here 
there are half a million pineapple plants, the pineapple, by the 
way, being indigenous to the Americas. A pineapple weighing 
fifteen pounds is not a curiosity in this region, and none is 
shipped weighing less than seven pounds, bringing $1 and 
$1.50 each in our market. The Pineros ship all they can 
and "what they can't they can," at least they plan to erect a 
cannery very soon. 

The name "Isle of Pines" was not derived from the pine- 
apple, however. It is the "Isle of Pine Tree," for here the 
stately pine grows side by side with the coquettish palm. The 
brand new hotel in Nueva Gerona was filled with visitors from 
the States. In the shops we saw evidence of Yankee occupa- 
tion — there was everything from spades to ice-cream soda, 
cured hams to chewing gum. We motored over to Santa Fe, 
a favorite health resort for wealthy Havanese for nearly a 
century. The two mineral springs, magnesia and iron, were 




A FIELD OF PINEAPPLES, ISLE OF PINES. 



528 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

even known to the Indians. The bottled water is sold all over 
Cuba. 

In Santa Fe we found the people greatly excited over the 
news that the secretary of public instruction in Havana had 
issued an order limiting the teaching of English in public 
schools to the large cities. A scarcity of teachers was given 
as the reason. As the most of the school children in the Isle 
of Pines are "out and out Americans," they naturally prefer 
saying "six times six" in English. I heard an original dis- 
course on the language question from an American who had 
lived ten years in Havana before becoming a Pifiero. 

"Do you know, I like these people," he said. "The trouble 
with most Americans is that they don't understand the Cubans, 
can't speak their language. When I first came down I could 
only speak a little and some of the gringos used to josh me 
about having learned my Spanish on a phonograph with the 
wax records too close to the fire. But that didn't worry me, 
and I just kept plugging away until I could ablar with the 
best of them. Now I get their viewpoint. They resent our 
insisting on their learning our difficult, harsh language. I 
recall a night some years ago when I was dining with Cubans 
and a discussion arose regarding the comparative beauty of 
English and Spanish — Shakespeare versus Cervantes. I had 
just put up quite a plea for my own tongue when a man across 
the table asked the English name of the dish before him, and 
I knew the jig was up. He was eating camarones, as smooth 
and liquid a lot of vowels as you can find. When I came out 
with 'shrimps,' they all were convulsed with laughter and 
nearly broke their jaws trying to pronounce the word. I was 
out in the first round !" 

I learned that the Isle of Pines is in two sections divided by 
a swamp — two-thirds a rolling country ; the remaining 300,000 
acres to the south, a jungle enveloping a wealth of hardwood. 
The men engaged in felling the trees and marketing the logs 
are mostly "Caimaneros," West Indian English of various 
shades from the Cayman Islands, 150 miles away. These men 
take a turn at hunting the tortoise, valuable for its shell, and 



CUBA 529 

also add to their incomes by catching young parrots which 
swarm the woods in June and July. 

The magnet which has attracted the Anglo-Saxon to this 
tropical pine-land is the equable climate. The winters are 
delightful and even the summer "has references." Fresh 
trade-winds blow off the Caribbean. 

I enjoyed my visit to these transplanted compatriots of 
ours. They went there with hearts full of hope and worked 
out their own salvation, transforming a Spanish penal colony 
into a prosperous American community. Whether it be the 
Cuban flag or the Stars and Stripes which eventually floats over 
pine and palm, the Yankee has here proved to the world that 
he is a first-class colonist. 



35 



CHAPTER LII. 

ACROSS CUBA. 

THE tobacco buyer and the man from Kentucky saw me off 
at the Central Station when I left Havana to cross Cuba. 

"Don't miss the caves of Matanzas !" "Be sure to ride in 
a volanta!" "Remember me to San Juan Hill!" These and 
many other parting admonitions they laughingly gave me. 

The express leaves the capital daily for Santiago de Cuba, 
540 miles away, twenty-four hours in a Pullman. I broke the 
journey at a number of places, my first stop being Matanzas, 
two and a half hours from Havana. Here there are two noted 
excursions for the traveler, one to the summit of a nearby hill 
for a view of the famous Yumuri Valley ; the other to the caves 
of Bellamar. 

I searched about the town for a volanta, the long-shafted, 
high-wheeled vehicle once typical in Cuba, but now rarely seen 
even in the country. At last I found a somewhat dilapidated 




THE VOLANTA, A CUBAN CARRIAGE, ONCE MUCH USED 
ON THE ISLAND. 

530 



CUBA 



53i 



sample. One horse is in the shafts and the driver rides on a 
second attached by traces. The cart is adapted for rough 
cross-country riding and was practical in the days of poor 
roads. The sensation is a bit "weird." My head was below 
the upper rim of the wheels as we bounced up the Cumbre 
which is crowned by the old hermitage of Montserrate. Within 
this quaint structure is a reproduction of the shrine in the 
monastery of Montserrate, Spain, done in cork. Many hand- 
some and expensive votive offerings have been deposited here 
and thousands of persons visit the hermitage yearly. 

I confess I was disappointed in the much-advertised Yumuri 
Valley as viewed from this point. The great naturalist and 
traveler, Humboldt, called it "the most beautiful valley in 
the world," or something equally extravagant. It is a pretty 
piece of country, clothed in emerald cane and tasseled with 
stately palms, but I have seen many finer valleys in tropical 
America. 

The caves of Bellamar resemble others I have visited — the 
same remarkable stalactite formations. You think you are in 




DOCKS AND WAREHOUSES, MATANZAS, CUBA. 



CUBA 



533 



fairyland, or at the New York Hippodrome during the finale ; 
all the bewildering shades are there, minus the fairies. 

On the whole, the best thing about Matanzas is the view 
of the city itself from the heights, its multi-colored houses, 
roofed with tiles, hill-encircled and river-girded, beside a deep 
blue sea. 

Matanzas, with its 36,000 inhabitants, is a commercial city 
of much importance. A fort, so obsolete that it was useless at 




IN A CANE-FIELD, INTERIOR OF CUBA. 



the time of the Spanish-American War, once protected the 
harbor. United States battleships bombarded Matanzas in 
April, 1898, but withdrew after killing one mule. 

Soon after leaving the city we passed a sisal plantation, 
fenced in by giant cacti; then field after field of cane. The 
world has not only to thank Cuba for her gift of rare tobacco, 
but owes her a vote of thanks for a bountiful sugar crop. 
Sugar has become a necessity to every civilized human being 
and its consumption during the past century is a most striking 



534 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



evidence of a luxury evolving into a real need. In fact, great 
doctors and scientists assert that the plentiful use of sugar is 
one of the best preventatives of alcoholic drunkenness, contain- 
ing, as it does, an unusual amount of natural alcohol which 
does not intoxicate. Moral, when tempted to take a drink, eat 
candy instead and escape the evils of whisky. 

As the civilized world cannot do without sweets, Cuba has 
a claim on civilization, having sent out 2,250,000 tons of sugar 
last season. Fully 99 per cent comes to the United States, as 
we have allowed 20 per cent reduction of duty. The Cubans 
are more than a bit worried over their status when the "free 
sugar" date arrives. 

If Cuba "cubed" her sugar crop, it would reach billions of 
cubes, enough to give every inhabitant of our country eight 
cubes a day. Of course we pay well for it ; $100,000,000 was 
its value on leaving its native heath, and the decimal point 
surely stepped to the right before we got our tongs on it. The 
sugar industry is the biggest thing on the island, amounting to 




LOADING CANE ON CARS ON A CUBAN 
SUGAR PLANTATION. 



CUBA 



535 



over two-thirds the total value of exports. Sugar plantations 
or "centrals" are all over the country, a bit scattered to the 
west, decidedly bunched in Santa Clara province, the heart of 
Cuba, and still numerous in the eastern section. 

I stopped to visit a sugar estate and was welcomed by the 
American manager, who told me that fully four-fifths of all 
the plantations are owned or managed by Americans. He said 
that our countrymen have about $200,000,000 invested in Cuba, 
and nearly $60,000,000 of it is in sugar. Over one million 
acres are given over to the production of honey-laden cane, 
twice the area devoted to the crop when Spain left the island. 

In the mills the laborers are Chinese, negroes, Spaniards 





TRAIN LOADED WITH SUGAR CANE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF CUBA. 



536 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

and highly paid American chemists and engineers. When the 
season ends, thousands of Spaniards embark by the shipload 
for Spain to spend the "dead" season with their families, 
returning at the commencement of the new crop. One of the 
largest sugar estates in the world is in Cuba, the "Chaparra," 
with 150,000 acres under cultivation. Many Cubans "raise 
cane" on the companies' land, selling the crop by weight to the 
mill. In 1912 these cane-raisers, colonos, had a bit of hard 
luck, for while the crop was large, the cane was light-weight 
though rich in sugar, so "heads won" — a prize to the com- 
panies. 

At Santa Clara I changed cars for Cienfuegos, "City of a 
Hundred Fires," on the south coast, which ships more sugar 
than any other port on the island. Cienfuegos Bay is said by 
naval experts to be one of the finest in the world, capacious, 
land-locked and tranquil. 

Here, as elsewhere on the island, I heard English spoken. 
Many educated Cubans understand it even if they will not 
speak it. Times have changed since the day when a hungry 
American tried to order a beefsteak in a Cienfuegos hotel and 
couldn't make the waiter understand. At last he took out his 
notebook and drew a picture of a cow. "Si, si, ahora yo 
entendo !" cried the waiter, rushing off. A few moments later 
he returned, proudly bearing a ticket to the bull fight ! 

In Cienfuegos my room overlooked the next door patio. I 
could not help seeing a bit of middle-class life. The ladies 
rocked and gossiped all day, but I'll confess they never forsook 
their needles. A small boy about ten years old was nurse to 
the baby and seemed also to serve as a sort of a "he-chamber- 
maid." About four in the afternoon the ladies appeared greatly 
bedecked and moved into the parlor to look out through the 
barred windows. In the evening there was more patio gossip 
and a very squeaky phonograph, and then the senorita favored 
us with several instrumental selections. 

The senorita marries the very first chance she has and wins 
a rocker and a patio of her own. Her life lacks the breadth 
and action of girls of the United States of the same station. 



CUBA 537 

She does not envy the upper-class Cuban women who travel 
and wear Parisian gowns. No, she only asks for a phonograph 
and a sewing machine, maybe a trip to Havana. She becomes 
a devoted, if not a very intelligent, mother. Peace is hers if 
Pedro then tends shop faithfully and keeps away from revolu- 
tionary talk. I don't believe this class of Cuban girls ever 
heard of a suffragette ! 

In regard to railroads, Cuba is one of the best served of the 
American republics, considering the country's size. It also 
was one of the first to have a railway, being twelve years ahead 
of its mother, Spain. Of the 2,075 miles of standard track 
on the island, 1,000 is British owned. American capital built 
the road from Santa Clara to Santiago, 607 miles, and now is 
reaching out, building 250 miles of new road across the prov- 
ince of Camaguey from north to south. This action has brought 
out a protest from the British railway interests who claim that 
it interferes with existing British concessions. The Cuban 
Government denies this, and it is up to the British Government 
to take the next step. 

I wrote in a previous chapter of the American fruit grow- 
ers on the Isle of Pines, but they are here at the Cuban railway 
stations, too. You can never mistake the man from North 
Dakota, although raising oranges is a new game to him. Here- 
tofore, Cuba's orange crop has found a local market, but the 
island fruit is beginning to appear in the United States. 

In the full development of her agricultural possibilities lies 
Cuba's golden future. Efforts on the part of the Government 
to promote agriculture cannot fail to attract the necessary 
immigration. There are large tracts which can be cultivated at 
less expense and with greater profit than in the irrigated sec- 
tions of the United States. There is also the best sort of 
opportunity for the small farmer, who can raise potatoes, for 
instance, as fine as any from Bermuda, while Cuba now buys 
half a million dollars' worth. 

And corn ! Why not market it at a big profit ? Now it is 
only raised for fodder. What we call farming in the United 
States is almost unknown in Cuba. Outside of the big planta- 




®X- 



CUBA 



539 



tions and the thriving new orchards, the happy-go-lucky coun- 
tryman raises bananas, sweet potatoes and yuca, a little rice, 
perhaps, and lets it go at that. He ekes out his larder with 
game. Winter is the Cuban hunting season. Game then is 
plentiful throughout the island and landowners, with few 
exceptions, allow sportsmen the freedom of their estates. 
Some sections abound with deer and there are miniature wild 
boar, also ducks, doves, quail and pheasants. There are no 
poisonous snakes and no fierce jaguars. A little tree rat, the 




A CORNER OF THE PATIO GARDEN OF A HOUSE IN CAMAGUEY, CUBA. 



54Q OUR DEPENDENCIES 

hutia, has it mostly his own way, unless you count a relic of 
past ages, the almiqui, a sort of shrew now very rare, and 
found only in Cuba and Haiti. 

At Camaguey, one of my Meccas on the island, is Dr. 
Paul Karutz, who recently resigned as industrial agent for the 
Cuba Railway to take up some special work for the. Spanish- 
American Iron Company at Daiquiri, at whose mines are 10,000 
people. He is a distinguished chemist, having been the first to 
call attention to the fact that powdered limestone or coral, 
when burned and applied to soil, does wonderful work in 
making plant food available. Dr. Karutz, who was a German 
army officer and has traveled all over the world, believes that 
when the natives are educated in the proper methods of tilling 
the soil the country will be able to supply all our Eastern sea- 
board with vegetables during the summer months. By feeding 
sugar cane and pressed peanut, cottonseed or linseed oil cakes, 
he boasts that he can raise pork at one and one-half cents a 
pound and beef at two cents a pound. These experiments are 
to be carried out at Daiquiri, where he has volunteered to farm 
10,000 acres scientifically to show the possibilities of agricul- 
tural development. Sugar is grown scientifically now in Cuba, 
but other products in most instances are cultivated as they 
were two or three hundred years ago. 

Camaguey's rehabilitated Indian name suits the quaint old 
town better than its former Spanish title of Puerto Principe. 
The settlement was originally founded on the coast, but was 
moved inland as early as 1530 to escape the visitation of pirates. 
Henry Morgan and his bloodthirsty crew found it out and 
sacked it, however, one hundred years later. Camaguey looks 
its age. It is old and hoary. It reminded me of Cartagena, 
Colombia ; the same squatty houses, the same parrot-cage win- 
dows, projecting and barred. I half expected to meet De 
Soto, Porcallo and all the other gallant sixteenth-century 
"boys" at each turn in the street. 

Camaguey impressed me as the most aristocratic town on 
the island, a little more conservative and Cuban than the 
others. The province has long been noted for its good blood 



542 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

and handsome women. Also for its live stock — cattle, riding 
horses, and bulls for fighting in the Spanish days. 

Keeping on to the east, I found the country more verdant ; 
it began to look really tropical. A vine-laced forest borders 
every clearing. Giant ceibas look on Royal palms which 
in turn tower over palmettos. A tree more vividly green than 
the others was pointed out to me as the mahogany, and I saw 
houses built entirely of mahogany logs. The most of the 
dwellings, however, are the native bohios, thatched huts 
built of palmetto, just the sort the Indians used when Columbus 
discovered the island. Bohio is the aboriginal name. An- 
other Indian word, or prefix rather, very common still, is 
gua — guajiro, the typical country man, lazy and good- 
natured ; manigua, the thick bush where the insurgents used to 
hide. They pronounce the gua as though it were wah. 
It was after dark when we passed the famous trocha line, the 
fortified Spanish trench which crossed the island. I could 
dimly make out the narrow-gauge railroad which now par- 
allels it. 

The wreck of the Maine no longer lies in Havana harbor. 
A noble monument in its honor will some day grace the 
capital. In western Cuba they live in the present and put 
away the past. But in the eastern country Spanish-American 
War tales come to life. I forgot all about sugar and tobacco 
and the other agricultural possibilities of the island as the 
train slid down to Santiago Bay. Every man who loves the 
Stars and Stripes comes here for the express purpose of taking 
off his hat to San Juan Hill! 



CHAPTER LIII. 

SANTIAGO AND THE ORIENT^. 
UT T 7"E WILL reach Cuba in twenty-five minutes," said 

V V the man with the plaid cap, looking at his watch. 

As I had already been some time in Cuba, I cast an inquir- 
ing eye on the speaker, who was a Britisher. 

"Ah ! you do not understand ! You call it 'Santiago de 
Cuba,' or 'Santiago,' I fancy! Here we just say 'Cuba,' don't 
you know ! And 'Cuba' is less Americanized and a blooming 
sight more picturesque than Havana," continued the man. 

It was dark when the train rumbled into Santiago where 
I was accosted by the usual band of piratical cocheros. The 
runner from the "Gran' Hotel Venus" caught me and we jolted 
through narrow cobble-paved streets to the hostelry facing the 
plaza. Here I found a bedroom adorned with a real bathtub, 
set in an alcove, and a sort of open-air restaurant overlooking 
the charming little park. "Cuba" was wide awake ! 




MORRO CASTLE, BUILT IN 1 664, AT ENTRANCE OF SANTIAGO HARBOR. 

543 



544 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 

mmmmmmmmmmm 




less cabs with 
clanging bells rat- 
tled past. News- 
boys, and lottery 
ticket sellers also, 
screamed their 
wares. The ca- 
thedral chimes 
added their note to 
the din. If you 
think a big Ameri- 
can hotel noisy, just 
try the "G ran' 



The band "um- 
ta-ta-ed" g a y 1 y. 
Hatless senoritas 
chatted under giant 
laurel trees, coquet- 
ting with slim 
young men who 
walked 'round and 
'round the square 
in the good old 
Spanish way, 
"making the goo- 
goo-eye." Number- 



STREETS IN SANTIAGO, CUBA. 



CUBA 



545 



Hotel Venus." I managed to doze at two a. m., but the street 
cries brought me back to the balcony at five. 

The Britisher was right. Santiago is by far the most 
picturesque of Cuban cities; and with its massive old Morro 
Castle, built in 1664 and no longer formidable, and the numer- 
ous other famous buildings and places in it and near it, it is 
rich in ancient, as well as in modern history. From here De 
Soto started overland to Havana on his way to Florida ; from 
here Cortez sailed forth to conquer Mexico. Sacked by 
pirates ; jarred by earthquakes ; invaded ; burned ; the "Very 
Noble and Very Loyal" city lived on, a fit setting for a later 
war-drama. 

Tiled balconies look down on narrow streets, flanked by 
walls every color of the rainbow. Indigo and orange, scarlet 
and sea-green are fair samples of the painter and decorator's 
favorite combinations. But in spite of its bizarre appearance, 
this is a busy commercial town, the throbbing heart of the 
Oriente, as the natives call eastern Cuba. They themselves 
are Orientales and there are 50,000 of them in Santiago. 
Their hope is to make this a pretentious shipping port and they 
plan to put $1,000,000 into harbor improvements. 

In a drive about town, some one pointed out to me the 
place where Adelina Patti, the singer, made her New World 
debut. She landed here on her way to New Orleans and sang 




THE WALL AGAINST WHICH THE VICTIMS OF THE 
3 6 EXPEDITION WERE SHOT, SANTIAGO. 



VIRGINIUS 



546 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

at a local club accompanied by musicians who were her fellow 
voyagers. 

The next landmark was a dreary stretch of wall. Men were 
lined up here and shot, of course, the popular Spanish pastime ! 
Here the Americans of the ship Virginius were murdered. It 
was during Cuba's Ten Years' War with Spain. The Vir- 
ginius, claiming American registry, but suspected of being a 
filibuster, was captured by a Spanish gunboat off Jamaica and 
taken to Santiago, where fifty of her officers and crew were 
summarily shot. This incident brought us at the time to the 
verge of war with Spain. 

A bright-faced boy offering to sell us lottery tickets chased 
away these grewsome memories. He was greatly excited over 
the late winnings. Three major prizes, within the month, had 
come to Santiago. If the Cuban has any pronounced hope, it 
is that he may some day win a substantial prize in this "national 
gamble." It takes all his loose change and cuts down his food 
allowance. He can bet on the cock fight only on Sundays and 
holidays, but he can add to his international assortment of 
lottery tickets any day. 

The real "show," to my mind, was the fish market. Here, 
on great stone slabs, the multi-colored fish are attractively 
displayed, every sort you can imagine. There are six hun- 
dred varieties in Cuban waters and practically all the "schools" 
send delegates to the market. The high-priced ones are kept 
alive in big tanks and it is quite a sight to watch the catch of 
a selected fish. The tradesman goes after it with a small hand 
net while the purchaser provides continuous identification of 
the victim. The great par go (red snapper) is one of the most 
popular. 

The most delicious thing in the way of eatables in Cuba is 
a water ice made from the guandbana, or sour-sop. The 
Cubans, like all people of Spanish blood, are very fond of 
ices. They serve them with spiral wafers which are often 
used in place of spoons. Exceptionally fine jelly is made here 
from guava, paste more often than jelly. Much of it finds its 
way to our market. 




it * 




548 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



I saw a strange sight in the city prison — male convicts 
knitting stockings and crocheting lace. The prisoners are per- 
mitted to send their handiwork to their wives, who sell it 
toward the support of the family. Convict-made lace is popu- 
lar with the tourists. 

I visited one of the schools which are still operated, after a 
fashion, on the system Uncle Sam transplanted from Ohio. 
There are no people anywhere who have such faith in school 
education as a cure-all for every human defect as we. And 




THE CATHEDRAL, SANTIAGO, CUBA. 

unquestionably we do not err in putting a high value ort 
schools. However, the Cubans apparently received an over- 
dose and the patient turned against it, although he is still taking 
the prescription. On the whole, they have been benefited. 

Facing the plaza in Santiago is the cathedral, an imposing 
structure, the largest in Cuba. It is the third to occupy the 
site, having been erected in 1690. Within its walls lies buried 
Diego Velasquez, founder of seven cities, who died in 1522. 



CUBA 



549 



Other men who carved their names high on the wall of Cuban 
history are interred in Santiago's cemetery, among them being 
Marti, the great patriot, and Palma, the first president. 

It was Marti who inspired the outbreak that preceded the 
Spanish-American War. War was declared with the mother 
country February 24, 1895, and Marti died on the field of 
battle that same year, but his protecting soul seemed to hover 
over the banner of the single star, which he had helped give 
to the breeze. It would do no good to tell now of the bloody 
years that followed, of the starving time, when the peasants 
were gathered into camps and allowed to die of hunger. The 
brutalities practiced by the Spaniards surpass belief, and the 
Cubans retaliated with atrocities. The United States would 
have had to interfere soon in Cuban affairs in the name of 
humanity. The destruction of the Maine focused attention 
on the island and fanned the flames of our just indignation. 
As a result we liberated Cuba. 

The two show places around Santiago are Boniato Summit, 




THE BLOCK-HOUSE AND MONUMENT, SAN JUAN HILL, 
SANTIAGO. 



550 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



for a wonderful view, and San Juan Hill. I motored first up 
Boniato to look the country over. A splendid road winds up 
the mountain, built during General Leonard Wood's regime 
and called "Wood's Folly," since it was expensive and leads 
nowhere in particular. I, for one, approved of the outlay, as 
I looked down from 1,500 feet over verdant hill and vale, 
with Santiago Bay gleaming in the distance. 

From Boniato I drove to 
El Caney, where we won a 
glorious victory. The old 
church which was riddled 
by shot and shell has been 
repaired, hence it is not so 
interesting to travelers as 
formerly. 

I drove on to San Juan 
Hill, though you can ride 





THE PEACE TREE. 

out on the trolley, 
if you prefer. A 
veteran of the col- 
ored troops that 
distinguished them- 
selves here shows 
visitors over the 
historic battle- 
ground. He led me 



ROYAL PALMS, THE TOP OF ONE OF WHICH 

WAS SHOT AWAY IN BATTLE, 

SAN JUAN HILL. 



CUBA 



55i 




GIVING A CUBAN BABY A DRINK. 



lllKW^ 







■ gwn 






A MILKING SCENE IN CUBA. 



552 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

to the Peace Tree, the giant ceiba under which the Spanish 
General, Toral, surrendered to General Shafter July 17, 1898. 
We walked up San Juan Hill, where Theodore Roosevelt 
charged to the Presidency. From the old block-house on the 
heights there is a most comprehensive view, and my guide 
pointed out the places of greatest interest, giving me a graphic 
description of the battles in which he had participated. All of 
the main battlefields of the region are now comprised in a 
public park, visited by thousands. 

Any one who thinks the Santiago campaign was a holiday 
outing for the American soldier should visit these battlefields. 
It is a task for a man to scramble up either San Juan Hill or 
Kettle Hill today. The Americans fought their way up the 
heights through barb-wire fences and cactus hedges, under a 
withering fire and won. This bravery was unquestionably of 
the first class. 

Twelve miles from Santiago is the village of Cobre, famed 
for the shrine of "Our Lady of Cobre," patron saint of Cuba. 
This little image has been closely identified with the history 
of the island ever since the opening years of the sixteenth cen- 
tury when Alonso de Ojeda, most daring of the followers of 
Columbus, brought it to the New World from Spain as his 
special safeguard against ill fortune. Through many vicissi- 
tudes the sacred Virgin has been preserved and pilgrims come 
from all over the island to worship at her shrine. 

Cobre is the Spanish for copper, and the copper mines here 
have been worked since 1530; $50,000,000 has been taken out 
and the present American company is shipping over 6,000 tons 
of metal monthly. 

As I passed along a road, I met a long string of laden 
ponies jogging in from the country, each tied to his neighbor 
by the tail. At the. rear of the train, dust-covered and alto- 
gether miserable, was a rebellious red and white calf, actively 
dodging the hoofs of his pacemaker. A group of black and 
tan youngsters playing in a doorway cheered him lustily. 
They looked a healthy lot of hopefuls, free from the dreaded 
hookworm once so prevalent in Porto Rico. 



CUBA 553 

I was told in Santiago that all Cuban property holders 
favor annexation. As one man put it, "You hang a Cuban 
up by his boots and if a peseta falls from his pockets he's an 
annexationist !'' But after talking with many influential 
Cubans, I came to the contrary conclusion. While some fear 
that annexation is the ultimate fate of the island, all seem 
fired with the ambition for a successful national career. It is 
natural that they should wish to keep their hard-earned free- 
dom — to stand before the world as an independent nation. 

Twice the United States has had to intervene. The pos- 
sibility of a third intervention hangs over every Cuban like a 
pall. He realizes that it would almost surely mean annexation 
to the United States. However, this would be the best thing 
that could befall him. No other nation on earth would do 
what we have done for Cuba, but without the protecting arm 
of Uncle Sam she could not long remain a nation under her 
own flag. 



o 



CHAPTER LIV. 
CUBA OF TOMORROW. 

NE gets a glimpse of the Cuba of the future at Nipe 
Bay — Cuba when it shall have been changed by the 
touch of industry's magic wand. I railroaded down to see 
Uncle Sam's great naval station at Guantanamo Bay, went to 
Baracoa on a coastwise steamer, then sailed on to Nipe Bay, 
returning to Santiago by rail. Among all the American inter- 
ests on the island those at Nipe Bay lead. Five colossal com- 
panies are interested there in sugar and banana plantations, 
citrus orchards, iron mines, and the Cuba Railway, with its 
model town, Antilla. 

Promoters of the railroad did not interest themselves in it 
alone. Their land holdings are enormous. When they pro- 
jected their railway through a wild and undeveloped country 
they were able to buy land at forty to fifty cents an acre. 
Gradually they are clearing it and converting it into some of 
the finest cane-producing land on the island, worth hundreds 
of dollars an acre. Even were they to carry freight for none 
but themselves the road would be a good investment. 

In the neighborhood of Antilla there is no land for sale to 
the small investor. The large corporations hold all that there 
is of value. Only recently a big fruit company paid $3,000,- 
000 for the 50,000-acre estate of Saetia. The company's main 
Nipe Bay settlement is at Preston, where the sugar mill is 
located. It produces over 70,000 tons of sugar a year. On 
the plantation 5,000 people are employed. Everything is done 
on a large scale. The water is brought eighteen miles, from 
the mountains, at a cost of $400,000. The company store does 
a business of $800,000 a year. On the seventy miles of the 
company's standard-gauge railway are twelve locomotives and 
400 cars. 

554 



CUBA 



555 



Throughout Cuba, the large estates have their own railroad 
systems for transporting products. Long trains convey sugar 
cane to the mills. During the active season there is indeed a 
race, each mill attempting to beat its record or the record of its 
neighbor. All summer long they prepare, putting the mills in 
condition and installing the latest patents. Finally, in Novem- 
ber, a manager, finding the hour ripe, gives the signal and the 
mills move. From end to end of the island the news is flashed. 
Other estates start their mills and sugar plants throb day and 




SCENE ON NIPE BAY, CUBA. 



556 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 




SPANISH-AMERICAN IRON COMPANY WORKS, FELTON, NIPE BAY, CUBA. 




ONE OF THE MANY PICTURESQUE MOUNTAIN ROADS IN CUBA. 



CUBA 557 

night until May or June. Bets are made on the output, which 
is important, for the quantity of Cuba's crop influences condi- 
tions around the world. The managers of these estates are 
not captains of industry ; they are generals, commanding thou- 
sands of men. 

Eastern Cuba is rich in minerals. Its ores of iron are at 
present the most exploited. They are of high grade, easily 
mined and shipped. Though known for almost four hundred 
years, they have been commercially mined but thirty. Millions 
are represented in the investments of two American companies 
whose plants are as up to date as any in the world. The ores 
are quarried rather than mined and are shipped to the United 
States for smelting. 

Near Preston is the iron mine town of Felton. When the 
ore comes from the mine it has 37 per cent of water. By a 
process of roasting this is removed, for obviously it would be 
extravagant to pay freight to Sparrow's Point, Maryland, or 
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on iron ore, one-third of which 
consisted of water. The mine is owned by the same company 
that owns Daiquiri, where the ore is a rock formation. Here it 
covers the ground like a blanket and is scooped up with big 
steam shovels. At the present rate of consumption it will 
take six or seven hundred years to exhaust it. In order to get 
ore down from the mountains at Woodford, the longest incline 
of the kind in the world was built. It is 7,600 feet long, with 
a lift of 1,120 feet. 

In the Nipe Bay district and elsewhere there is ample proof 
of the success of the big companies in Cuba. The success of 
the colonies and the individual colonists is, as I have intimated 
before, largely a matter of good judgment and good manage- 
ment. The quality that spells success in Cuba includes wisdom 
in purchasing good land and not taking worthless ground. It 
has been asserted that Cuba is not a country for the American 
without money, that it is worse in this respect than Porto Rico. 
The American farmer will not suffer, however, if he avoids 
land sharks and before investing learns a little about the coun- 
try he is to settle in. There is good opportunity to raise food- 



558 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 




MINING IRON AT THE MAYARI MINES, CUBA. 

stuffs for the Cuban markets. Now Cuba imports. I have 
told how the Yankee has proved himself a good colonist on the 
Isle of Pines. There, and in other districts as well, good 
judgment has brought success. 

Cuba has been a rich field for the sharpers. Their victims 
have been of two kinds — those who came to Cuba and settled, 
and those who remained at home and sent money for the 
"development" of their land. The field, in which the unscru- 
pulous real-estate dealer sowed the seed of discontent with 
existing conditions, was those Northern States in which snow 
covers the ground three or four months of the year. The 
advertising literature called attention to the hard winters, then 
made the contrast. Cuba was described as a land of perpetual 
sunshine, flowing with milk and honey twelve months of the 
year. Many of those who came to the island were ignorant 
of the language, ignorant of the laws, among a people they 
did not understand. 



CUBA 559 

What the crooked real-estate dealer did, whenever possible, 
was to show the settler a fine piece of land and deliver a deed 
for another tract that was practically worthless. The buyer 
had only himself to blame, in the majority of instances, for 
having failed to have the sale verified by a reliable bank. The 
most unproductive land is known as savannah land, and many 
a homesick American is trying to live on savannah land which 
careful investigation would have shown was not worth the 
labor put upon it. 

The usual method was to sell land in colonies. Some of 
these colonies, after years of hardship, are beginning to 
prosper. Good management has altered their view of the 
future. After four or five years of work a colony at Omaja, 
a hundred miles east of Santiago, is just "getting on its feet." 
The settlers do not possess deeds to their lands, owing to a 
peculiar Cuban law which tripped up the promoter of the colony. 
The money they paid is still held in escrow by a bank. F. L. 
Pfeufifer, resident manager, told me that there are about 12,000 
acres in the property controlled by this company, though much 
of it is not under cultivation. A colonist usually takes from 
ten to twenty-five acres. At one time there were 350 colonists 
at Omaja but many grew discouraged over the failure to get 
title to their land and moved away. Now there are about 150. 
Mr. PfeufTer believes that a practical man with a trade could 
earn enough to keep going while developing his property. 
From his experience a man with $1,000 could get a good start, 
but he must locate where there are other Americans. 

The colonists at Omaja are of the hardy pioneer type that 
made the winning of our West a triumph of civilization. I 
attended a good roads meeting and was much impressed with 
their earnestness of purpose. How fortune can be wooed and 
won in Cuba is demonstrated by E. C. Pierson, a nurseryman 
of New York State, who moved to Omaja when his health 
became impaired. He has one of the largest nurseries in 
Cuba, with fifty-five acres in stock. 

Cuba has 60,711 farms, with an average of 143 acres to the 
farm, yet only ten per cent of this is under cultivation. For 



CUBA 



;6i 



this condition there is a reason, one that accounts in no small 
part for the slowness of Cuba's development. Land unsur- 
veyed, in a wild state, is not subject to taxation. Real property 
has no tax on it, either in town or country, unless it has rental 
value. In the country this amounts to four per cent and in 
urban communities it is double. Consequently, a great land- 
lord can keep thousands of acres unsurveyed and untilled, 
without any burden being placed on him by the State. This 
practically puts a premium upon the neglect of agriculture and 
this state of affairs is what has made it hard for the American 
colonist. There is no wonder that the Cuban peasant is not 
provident. The moment that he owns a house that is better 
than a dog kennel, and begins to take thought of the morrow 
by putting in a crop that will do more than keep him alive, 
along comes the tax collector. General Menocal, who became 
President of Cuba on May i, 191 3, promised to change the 
existing tax conditions. One cannot be sure of promises made 
in Cuban politics, but friends of good government in Cuba 
predict a remarkable advance during his administration, since 
he seems, in most matters, to have the American viewpoint. 
A point of interest to Americans is our naval station at 




37 



SCENE ON GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA. 



562 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

Guantanamo Bay, reserved perpetually for the United States 
at the close of the Spanish-American War. We have done 
little toward the fortification of our great Cuban base, but at 
present active work is under way, as Guantanamo is to protect 
the eastern entrance of the Panama Canal, just as the Pearl 
Harbor fortifications in Hawaii guard the western outpost. 
General Wood, chief of the army staff, was on the ground at 
the time of my last visit. He had with him ten picked advisers 
to inspect plans for the land defenses of this Caribbean Gibral- 
tar. There is to be a mammoth dry dock. Huge oil tanks 
are being erected. Lieutenant Winfield Liggett, Jr., our execu- 
tive officer, told me that life at the naval base was deadly dull 
except when the Atlantic fleet assembles there for target prac- 
tice. Marines from the United States are stationed at Fisher- 
man's Point, at the entrance to the bay. Back of their barracks 
rises McCalla Hill, where American blood was shed when our 
first troops were debarked, June 10, 1898. 

We have traded our other site, at Bahia Honda, on the north 
coast, for additional land at Guantanamo. As we plan to 
maintain a large garrison, it was found necessary to secure 
more drinking water, hence the "swap," of north coast land, 
which we had never utilized, for country containing hills and 
streams back of Guantanamo. An American colony is spring- 
ing up here, with sugar estates and lumber enterprises, within 
easy call of our bluejackets in case of trouble. 

It was officially estimated a few years ago that there were 
over 10,000,000 acres of virginal forest on the island in spite 
of the "Woodman-Spare-the-Tree" poem not having been trans- 
lated into Spanish. The valuable woods include mahogany, 
cedar, ebony and oak. Where transportation facilities have 
permitted the removal of logs, hardwoods are now scarce, but 
inland, in the central and eastern provinces recently opened up, 
there is much good timber left. Successful timber cutting and 
sawing are of course for the specialist who has had experience 
in "making sawdust." It has been proved an unsafe industry 
for the uninitiated. 

If you will look at a map of Cuba, you will find the town 



CUBA 563 

of Baracoa near the extreme eastern point. This is the oldest 
Spanish settlement on the island, the first capital. I landed 
here from a steamer and climbed to the fort on the hill where 
they say Columbus stood in October, 1492. "It is so beautiful 
that one never wearies to see it," he wrote, and thought he 
had reached a great empire of the Far East instead of a little 
Western isle. 

The coconut and banana grow abundantly in this region, 
the latter always very stiff, as though it disapproves of its 
graceful neighbor. Baracoa is the chief coconut port of the 
island, but the production has fallen off alarmingly owing to 
a disease which has ravaged the trees. Under normal condi- 
tions the coconut yields four or five years after planting, 
bears about seventy nuts a year and is a paying investment. 
Cuba is too far north to produce the best bananas for commer- 
cial use, but they are grown all over the island for home con- 
sumption. 

We buy much more from the Cubans than they do from us, 
although three-fourths of their total trade is with the United 
States. Here is a chance for our hustling commercial travelers 
to unload their wares. But they had better peruse a treatise 
on diplomacy as they speed down the Over-Seas Railway. 
How strange that "Juan" and "Arturo" prefer any day to 
buy from the Spaniard who tyrannized them rather than from 
the Yankee who helped to make them free ! 

If it is his first trip to Cuba, the traveler must not be sur- 
prised to find negroes all over the island who say, "Si, senor" 
instead of "Yassir," very different sort of colored men from 
the type he knows at home. 

The fortune teller, in examining the palm of Cuba's suc- 
cessful political party, has predicted the meeting with a "dark 
person," whose "color scheme" promises a great source of 
worry. The blacks in Cuba claim that they have not been 
given their share of the public offices and can probably make 
good their claim. A special law prevents their organization 
into a separate party, and not so very long ago there was an 
uprising in eastern Cuba, put down with heavy loss of life. 




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CUBA 565 

Poor Cuba has a race problem on her hands almost certain to 
grow worse if the present proportional increase in the black 
race is sustained. 

Steamers of the French line connect Santiago de Cuba with 
Santo Domingo. My most vivid remembrance of things 
Cuban is that sail down the harbor in the late afternoon, the 
rainbow city, the verdant coconut- fringed shore, the narrow, 
fort-guarded entrance. 

The cry, "Hobson sank the Merrimac just there!" brought 
all of us to the rail. I could picture that memorable night 
when the valiant Americans risked their lives in an attempt to 
corral the Spanish fleet. Though, at the point where they 
sank the Merrimac the channel was of such a width that the 
Spanish fleet could sail by and really was not "bottled up," the 
act itself was a brave one. 

The Morro of Santiago de Cuba overlooking sea and bay 
is one of the grandest old fortresses I have ever seen. Its 
coloring of bluff and rose overlaced with verdure, the time- 
worn steps leading up the precipitous cliff, every detail one of 
beauty and harmony. Beyond are the modern barracks. The 
sunset gun ! The Cuban flag floating out on the breeze, where 
the colors of Spain long waved, where the Stars and Stripes 
once were unfurled, where possibly they may again be un- 
furled. Good-by sunny island, beautiful Cuba! 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 

Area, 18,045 square miles, about the size of Nezv Hampshire 
and Vermont combined — Population, 191 3, about 600,000, 
made up mainly of Creoles, Europeans mixed with African 
and Indian blood, and some Turks and Syrians — Chief re- 
sources, sugar, cacao, tobacco, cotton, coffee, timber — 
Imports, 1913, $9,012,641; exports, $10,175,800; imports 
from United States, $5,802,767 ; exports to United States, 
$5,443,933 — Military, authorized by laiv, 906 officers and 
men — Naz'y, 1 gunboat and 4 revenue cutters — Railway, 
public, 150 miles ; private lines on large estates, 250 miles; 
telegraph lines, 352 miles — Capital, Santo Domingo, popu- 
lation, 22,000 — President, 1914, General lose Bordas. 

CHAPTER LV. 

A FOSTER-CHILD. 

NOT one man out of fifty in the United States can readily 
locate the Dominican Republic, which is a sort of foster- 
child of Uncle Sam. It covers two-thirds of the island of 
Haiti and is next door to the Black Republic. The "black and 
tan" Dominican Republic has a Spanish-speaking population 
and its metropolis, Santo Domingo City, is grandmother of the 
Americas. 

Santo Domingo, with its 22,000 inhabitants, lies on the 
south coast where the Ozama River meets the sea. If the 
people had long-distance glasses, they could keep tab on the 
Venezuelans, for there is a clean sweep of sea between. 

We came here from Cuba on a French steamer which an- 
chored off the mouth of the Ozama. From the ship, old 
Santo Domingo looked well preserved. "She'd pass for forty," 
said a fellow passenger, "and she's over four hundred !" 

On rowing up the river to the custom's pier we recognized 
a true son of the buccaneers in our boatman. He charged 
each of us four dollars gold for two hundred yards! One 
man loudly protested, but had to pay. 

566 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



567 




WATERFRONT ON THE OZAMA RIVER AT SANTO DOMINGO CITY. 



"Well," he added, "these people are properly named. I'll 
spell it 'DOUGHminicans' after this ! And it's been the cause 
of all their trouble, too !" < 

The Dominicans do hold all records for the scandalous 
handling of public funds. Soon after they broke away from 
Spain they started on this mad career, borrowing right and 
left, until they had piled up a mountain of debt, over $30,000,- 
000 and nothing to show for it ! This forty years' spree was 
filled, "acrobatically speaking," with all sorts of daring exhibi- 
tions of financial tumbling, Government paper dropping as low 
as sixty per cent discount. From the "hard up" stage they 
slipped down into the "dead broke" class. Then the foreign 
creditors demanded their money. Their sheriffs were war- 
ships. Then the Dominicans appealed to the United States 
for aid and protection and Uncle Sam threw out a life pre- 
server. This was back in 1905. 



5 68 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



First he looked over the list of debts and decided that fifty 
cents on the dollar would give every one back all the real 
money invested. Then he loaned this bankrupt republic $20,- 
000,000, using $15,000,000 for the creditors and the remaining 
$5,000,000 for public improvements. He appointed an able 
American as receiver of customs with assistants at all ocean 
ports and Haitian frontier posts and applied fifty-five per 
cent of the revenue toward paying back the $20,000,000 loan, 
allowing the Dominicans forty-five per cent for spending 
money. This proved a sort of "magic wand act," for, lo and 
behold! the forty-five per cent gave the people more actual 
money than the whole hundred per cent under the old regime. 
With the change of administration in the United States, a year 
and a half ago, the trained American customs officials were 
displaced by inexperienced men and the Dominican machine 
slowed down. 

As there is no property tax in the country, the customs 




THE ANCIENT CEIBA TREE TO WHICH THE FIRST SPANISH CARAVELS WERE 
MOORED. STANDS NEAR THE WATERFRONT, SANTO DOMINGO CITY. 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



569 



duties are necessarily high and the receiver has much difficulty 
in keeping the ports "smuggler proof." He has five little coast- 
guard vessels, sea-going gasoline launches, to watch all sus- 
picious-looking craft. At least he can watch them in moder- 
ately fair weather. "When billows dash," the toy tin fleet is 
forced to run to cover. 

As we drove away from the customhouse, we passed the 
giant ceiba tree to which a brother of Columbus moored his 
caravel ; then through an opening in an ancient wall to typical 
Spanish- American streets and on to the Hotel Francia. Here 




PRESIDENT S MANSION, SANTO DOMINGO CITY. 

one pays $2.50 for room and meals, the room opening on the 
veranda, no windows, no running water. 

Santo Domingo is not making a bid, as yet, for tourist trade, 
although it has more of interest to offer than any other West 
Indian city. No city in the New World, in fact, can boast 
its array of historical landmarks. Founded in 1496 by order 
of Columbus, when his earlier settlement on the north coast was 
abandoned, Santo Domingo stands today the oldest Christian 
city of the Western Hemisphere. The Great Admiral himself 
knew it; his brother and his son both ruled it as Governors; 



570 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



Cortez, Pizarro, Balboa and lesser conquistador es all clanked 
its narrow streets. 

Our first pilgrimage was to the ancient cathedral, a beauti- 
ful, mellow old church, fitting home for the tomb of Christopher 
Columbus. The solemnity of the occasion, however, was 
somewhat marred by the running comment of an American 
who insisted on going with us. We had pictured a simple 
medieval tomb, matching the dignified surroundings. Instead 




THE CATHEDRAL, SANTO DOMINGO CITY. BEGUN IN I514 AND 
COMPLETED IN 1 54-0. CONTAINS THE TOMB OF COLUMBUS. 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



57* 




THE COLUMBUS MAUSOLEUM IN THE CATHEDRAL. 



we beheld a gigantic ornate structure of dazzling white marble, 
blocking the aisle and towering to the ceiling. 

"Looks just like a big soda-water fountain !" remarked the 
irreverent American. "Poor old Christy! His ashes are in 
that bronze casket, that is, the most of 'em. Eight or nine 



572 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

different pinches are scattered all over the world, from New 
York to Italy." 

We remarked that the great discoverer was the proud pos- 
sessor of two tombs, for there is one in Seville, Spain, bearing 
his name, and no Spaniard will acknowledge that it really holds 
the remains of Diego, son of Christopher. 

When the Spaniards gave up Santo Domingo to the French 
in the eighteenth century, they carried away to Cuba what 
they believed to be the remains of their hero. Later the same 
body was removed to Spain. About one hundred years after 
this, a Dominican priest, in repairing the Santo Domingo 
cathedral, discovered the true remains and so, by happy chance, 
Columbus lies today in the New World which he discovered. 

On the roof of the cathedral is the mark of a cannon ball 
left by that sociable old chap, Sir Francis Drake, who sacked 
the town in 1586. From that day Santo Domingo's glory 
waned. Like many an old grandmother she dropped into the 
background, outshone by her daughters, Cuba, Mexico and 
Peru, and by her many brilliant granddaughters. 

However, very recently the city has begun to improve. 
The streets have been paved, sidewalks laid; there are tele- 
phones, electric lights, and, shades of Columbus ! there are 
automobiles ! There is a fine boulevard facing the sea beyond 
the city walls and the homes here would grace any land. The 
American legation is among them. On a rise overlooking the 
city is the new palatial customs office and home of the Ameri- 
can employes. They told me it is never excessively warm, 
that there is always a breeze blowing off the Caribbean. An 
automobile-omnibus makes regular trips out this seashore road 
and on to the village of San Cristobal. 

Outside the capital and its environs most of the roads in the 
country are exceedingly bad, mere mule trails. Communication 
between the chief towns of the republic is via steamer rather 
than overland. 

As in almost every land, the types in this country differ 
widely. There are white Dominicans, cultured and traveled; 
there are coal-black Dominicans quite uneducated. Yet every 



574 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



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AMERICAN LEGATION BUILDING AT SANTO DOMINGO CITY. 



man, woman and child in the land has the courtesy of the 
Latin. 

Chancing into a humble little shop one day, the mulatto 
merchant made the visit of the gringos an event. He offered 
each a glass of water. Would the sefiors like to see the 
ruins of the very old church just back of the shop? Did the 
sehors desire any information regarding the city ? We left our 
address for the delivery of our purchases and were ceremon- 
iously bowed out. Next day we had altogether forgotten the 
incident, when a card was sent up. Down we went, expecting 
to meet some Government official, but, to our amazement, there 
stood the little merchant, silk hat in hand, accompanied by his 
three small sons all dressed in white, the eldest bringing a gift 
to the foreign sehors. We were amazed, but also touched. It 
would not happen in Chicago. There one is not "touched" just 
in the same way. 

And, speaking of losing your money. When the Domini- 
cans were outfitting for a new national life under United 
States management, they set their hearts on possessing a wire- 
less station. Finally Uncle Sam consented and they spent 
$40,000 on what was catalogued as an "A 1 — High Power Set. 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



575 



Warranted to Talk Like a Parrot !" From New York came 
this last word in wonders and proudly the mast towered sky- 
ward on the seashore, by the old battered wall of the first city 
of the Americas. Then the gunboat President e went out to 
sea with its wireless for the great test. The day came. The 
day went. The thing did not work. 

They kept on trying it daily for about a year and decided 
to use a megaphone. They did send one message, however, to 
New York. It arrived in the form of a letter reading : "Come 
and take back your old outfit. It's deaf and dumb." 

We understand that the company in the United States 
claimed that the frequent revolutions in Santo Domingo were so 
"shocking" as to neutralize the electric power of the station. 
At all events, they refused the money. The Dominicans were 
planning to use the wireless mast as a $40,000 flag pole, but a 
bright one among them, after much tinkering, discovered the 
"missing link" and now the plant is reported as being in 
commission. 

Among the most beautiful of Santo Domingo's monuments 



%. 





PART OF SEAFRONT, SANTO DOMINGO CITY. MONUMENT TO LIVES LOST 
HERE IN WHAT IS CALLED "THE MOUTH OF HELL." 



576 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



is that which stands at the point known as "The Mouth of 
Hell," honoring the memory of Dominicans who lost their lives 
near this point, where the waves dash. 

One of the picturesque sights in Santo Domingo is the 
ferry across the Ozama River. Bridges throughout the coun- 
try are few. Laden ponies and burros ; clumsy oxen, yoked 
by the horns ; boys on horseback using straw saddles ; women 
on foot carrying baskets on their heads; even well-dressed 
cavaliers — all wait at the river shore for the primitive ferry, 

_ ,. upon which they crowd with great 

eagerness. The country folk, with 
/^\ their wares, are bound for the 

marketplace, undoubtedly the 
most "colorful" spot in town, 
where beasts of burden form a 
patient line, relieved finally of the 
ill-fitting straw saddles and huge 
panniers woven from banana and 
plantain fiber. 
j/j& Delicacies on sale in the market 

#^1 are candied cashew nuts, and the 

tender heart of the Royal palm 
eaten as a salad. Ice cream made 





m:- 



FORTRESS OF HOMENAY, THE OLDEST FORTRESS IN THE NEW 
WORLD, SANTO DOMINGO CITY. 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



577 



from the milk of fresh coconuts is another dish for the gods. 
We met an American commercial traveler at the hotel who 
told us he had been coming to Santo Domingo for many years 
and had watched "the political game" with interest. He 
thought the country would eventually heed the message regard- 
ing progress, with Porto Rico making a wonderful display on 
one side and Cuba trying to make a record for self-control on 
the other. 

"There's nothing wrong with the Dominican constitution," 
he said. "It's a fine, husky constitution, breathing liberty and 
the joy of living in every line. But somehow it doesn't prevent 
these politicians from jailing the leading citizens on all sorts 
of trumped-up charges and keeping them in jail at royal pleas- 
ure. The petty rulers in each district — Jefes, they're called — 
have found a reliable source of income in 'grafting by draft- 
ing,' serving sons of well-to-do people with notices to report 
for military service. Then the fond parents disgorge a piece 
or two of money and the near-recruit is pronounced physically 
unfit. All the corruption is charged up to the party in power, 
so the best element is nearly always against the Government." 

Away back in 1884, a negro, named Heureaux, nicknamed 
"Lelis," elected himself to the Presidency and held the job for 
fifteen years. Many are the 
stories they tell of his depravity 
and cruelty, how he slaughtered 
all who opposed his wishes and 
turned over concessions, monopo- 
lies, even the customhouse, on re- 
ceipt of "cash payments." This 
reign of terror was brought to a 
close by a well-placed bullet from 
the pistol of Caceres, whose father 
he had murdered. Later on, 
Caceres himself became President, 
to meet the same fate at the hand 
of an assassin. 

We agreed with our informant 
that it seemed to be extra hazard- 




38 



A MILKMAN, SANTO DOMINGO CITY. 



578 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 




GATEWAY IN THE OLD CITY WALL. 




SCENE IN FRONT OF THE MARKET. 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC . 579 

ous business, but thought there were still many illustrious 
sons training for the position, if chicanery was an indication. 
Two years ago a revolution was put down with considerable 
difficulty. Uncle Sam exhibited two warships and 700 
marines, but succeeded in patching things up only by calling the 
archbishop to the Presidency. This is the second time in the 
country's history that warring factions have had their death 
grip broken by the advent of the holy cross. While this truce 
stopped bloodshed for the time being, the "national sport" 
again took the field and "the double cross" was employed 
instead of the cross of the Church. Ever since we left the 
country a revolution has been in full swing. Word arrives that 
railroad traffic is suspended and ports blockaded. The cacao 
crop is molding in the interior. Business throughout the 
Republic is stagnant. A serious crisis is at hand. 

In the famous revolution of 1904, Uncle Sam acted as 
umpire. Commander Dillingham of the gunboat Detroit, on 
learning that the revolutionists were about to "shoot up" a 
Dominican town, suggested that the defenders go out in the 
open and fight the invaders like sports. The proposition was 
accepted. Lines were marked ofT by flags. The Government 
forces were placed on one side, the rebels on the other and 
told to fight to their hearts' content. The only rule laid down 
was that retreat beyond the prescribed lines must be accepted 
as defeat, the losers to surrender. When all was arranged, 
foreign consuls and clubmen hired carriages and went out to 
see the battle. A valiant struggle followed, a retreat ; a rally ; 
"five yards to gain;" a second retreat by the rebels; then — 
surrender ! The unique war match was over — for that day, 
at least 



CHAPTER LVL 



ACROSS THE REPUBLIC. 



( 4 T SAY, my good man, is this boat going up or down,'* 

JL asked an anxious old lady of a deck hand. 

"Waal, ma'am," he replied, "she's a leaky old tub, so I 
shouldn't wonder if she was goin' down ; but thin, ag'in, her 
b'ilers ain't none too good, so she might be goin' up !" 

This story came to mind upon boarding the rickety little 
coasting vessel which takes one over to Macoris, the new, rich, 
flourishing sugar port, forty miles east of Santo Domingo. 
Sugar, cacao and tobacco are the three leading industries of 
the Dominican Republic. It ranks seventh among the sugar- 
producing countries of the world. 

"We have fine sugar soil," was the claim in San Pedro de 
Macoris. "You see, we don't have to irrigate as they do over 
in Azua, where they must sink artesian wells. We just clear 
the forest, make a hole in the ground, stick in a joint of cane 
as you would an eye of a potato, and we have ten crops with- 
out replanting." 




SAN PEDRO DE MARCORIS, THE GREAT SUGAR PORT, SOUTH COAST. 

580 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



58i 



. I* *" 






—1 


llli 








Si • 











BRINGING IN THE SUGAR CANE. 



After the export tax on sugar was abolished, there was a 
boom in the island, over $5,000,000 worth of sugar having been 
shipped in 19 12. A drought followed and sugar figures 
dropped, but the 1914 crop, estimated at 125,000 tons, promises 
to beat the record. The most of the companies are American, 
at least they are registered as American companies. 

"Does the sugar go to the United States?" was asked. 

"Yes, it goes there, but it doesn't stop. It is transshipped 
at New York for Canada and England." 

We learned that there are twelve big estates, and that a new 
sugar district is being opened up at La Romana, where an 
American company is clearing a tract forty miles in length 
and building twenty-five miles of standard-gauge railway. 
The land is cheap, eight to ten dollars an acre. 

The port of Macoris is favorably situated as a shipping 
point, as the Macoris River admits vessels drawing twenty- 
two feet. On a tug one steams up river to the Consuelo estate, 
where an interesting labor problem is found. The foreman 



582 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



must have a working knowledge of several languages, as the 
field hands are imported from the British, French, Dutch and 
Danish West Indies, also from Haiti. They receive fifty to 
seventy cents for a twelve-hour day. Native labor is scarce, 
as the frequent revolutions have kept the population down to 
a comparatively small number per square mile. Many Haitians 
cross the island to work in Macoris, but black labor can now be 
imported only for the season, as a new law permits none but 
white persons as settlers. The Dominicans hope that this 




SCENE ON A SUGAR PLANTATION. 

order will eventually have a bleaching effect on the national 
complexion. 

From the south coast we sailed around to the eastern side of 
the island, to. the far-famed Samana Bay. This magnificent 
harbor is really an inland sea, thirty-five miles in length, nine 
in width, practically landlocked, as the entrance narrows to 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



583 



six-tenths of a mile between an island and the mainland. Once 
inside, there is deep-water anchorage for all the warships and 
merchant vessels that sail the high seas. 

Samana Bay controls the Mona Passage, which is in a 
direct line between Europe and the Panama Canal. It came 
within an ace of belonging to the United States during Presi- 
dent Grant's administration. A Dominican President made 
the proposition and we sent commissioners down there to study 
the question. They returned with a treaty of annexation 
which our Senate rejected by a tie vote. Our naval strategists 

have never got- 
ten over it and, 
even at this late 
day, are s u g- 
gesting that we 
make an effort 
to acquire at 
least the penin- 
sula with its 
command of ad- 
jacent waters. 




HOMES ON SAMANA BAY', DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 



584 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

It was on the northern shore of this bay that the first 
European blood was shed in the New World. A party sent 
on shore by Columbus was attacked by Indians and several of 
the sailors were mortally wounded by arrows. That, of course, 
was before the conquest by Spain. At the time of the con- 
quest there were estimated to be one million aborigines on the 
island, but so terrible was the treatment accorded them that 
fifty years later the race was virtually exterminated. Their 
blood flows today in the veins of many a Dominican, mixed 
with that of the Spanish conquerors and the American slaves. 
With the loss of the Indians as laborers on plantations and in 
mines, the Spaniards, as in Porto Rico, found it necessary to 
import great numbers of negro slaves, beginning early in the 
sixteenth century. 

Ten miles up the bay is the charming little town of Samana, 
built in a coconut grove at the foot of the verdure-clad hills. 
This is the loveliest spot in the Republic. As one looks down 
from the heights back of the town on palm-clad capes and 
wooded islands, on a wonderfully colored bay and encircling 
mountains, one fancies that here, under a stable Government, 
a great international winter playground- may some day be 
produced. One conjures up a mammoth tourist hotel, a fleet of 
yachts in the harbor, and rows of charming villas, only to 
awake to the fact that this is Santo Domingo. Still, some 
time in the dim future the dream may come true. 

Back in 1825, Samana was the site chosen for the trans- 
planting of some of our surplus American negro population. 
Descendants of the original colony still farm in the San Juan 
Valley, a few miles inland from Samana. They are fairly 
prosperous and are by far the most diligent workers in the 
country. One of them, who spoke English, claimed that 
he was of "Yankee abstraction." He certainly had the Yankee 
hustle, for he sent out a note to the steamer captain saying: 
"Have a fine bull-pup for sale. Will eat anything. Very fond 
of children." 

The Dominican Republic, like Cuba, is free from venomous 
reptiles and savage animals, so we suppose the people can put up 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



585 




CURING CACAO IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 



with the insects. They have a fine assortment of those. We 
met a number of varieties every time we walked on the grass, 
and the people of the upper classes are sure to invite the 
stranger to a picnic. The people love outdoor life. We saw 
big tarantulas ambling over walls, but the natives did not 
seem to fear these horrible spiders, and several assured us that 
the bite is not so dangerous as commonly supposed. 

At the head of Samana Bay is the village of Sanchez with 
900 inhabitants, owing its commercial existence to the fact that 
it is the terminus of the seventy-mile Scotch Railway up into 
the Cibao. 

You hear of the Cibao more often than of anything else in 
the Republic, but we had difficulty in locating it. We finally 
decided that the term applies to the country between the cen- 
tral and northern ranges of mountains, including the great 
valley of the Vega. Here are the most fertile lands, the 
richest cacao plantations in the country. 

The crop of chocolate beans in 1912 was valued at nearly 
$3,000,000 and furnished the bulk of the freight for the Scotch 



5 86 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 




LONG-HORNED CATTLE ON A PLANTATION. 




ROYAL PALMS OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 587 

Railway. The Government cut the export tax on cacao in half 
to promote production and the returns have been encouraging, 
although the planters are still wailing over the terrible blight 
which attacked the tree a few years ago. They admit, however, 
that the recent advance in price has eased the situation. The 
1913 crop fell off slightly, owing to political disturbances, 
drought and damages by insect pests. This product, however, 
yielded forty per cent of the export values of the year. 

We made the journey overland from Sanchez to Puerto 
Plata on the south shore. There is but a short break in rail 
connection between the Samana Railroad, through the Vega, 
and the Government line, running inland from Puerto Plata to 
the important city of Santiago. 

Near Samana Bay, the railway skirts mangrove swamps, 
the home of the snowy egret and the scarlet ibis. Then we 
climbed up to rolling pasture lands, through dense groves of 
cacao. Mile on mile of Royal palms flank the track. As 
trains here seldom exceed a fifteen-mile-an-hour speed (express 
trains sometimes make twenty miles) and stop from five to 
fifteen minutes at every village, there was ample time to 
observe the surroundings. 




SADDLE BULLS USED IN THE FOOTHILLS AND VALLEYS OF CIBAO, 
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 



588 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

Beyond Almacen the country becomes more open. There 
are herds of cattle accompanied by flocks of white birds, which 
perch on the backs of the animals, freeing them from insects. 
Many of the cattle are of a slender breed peculiar to this island 
and occasionally used as saddle animals. They are sure-footed 
but not capable of much speed. 

Five hours out from Sanchez we pulled into La Vega, 
terminus of the line, having climbed only 300 feet above sea 
level. La Vega is a rambling town of 5,000 people with little 
of interest beyond its sawmills, which tell of forest wealth 
close at hand. Just in sight tower the mountains of the central 
range, covered from base to summit with forests of yellow 
pine. 

While eighty-five per cent of the land area of the Republic 
is covered with timber, lack of transportation has handicapped 
the development of the lumbering industry. A belt twenty- 
five miles wide, bordering the coast and railways, embraces all 
the cut-over area. The fine quality of Santo Domingo hard- 
woods has long been noted, the mahogany especially being 
famous for its great size and beauty when polished. There is 
also a quantity of greenheart, the wood which the United 
States Department of Agriculture claims will outlast steel or 
iron when placed in water. This wood was specified for the 
sills and fenders in the lock gates of the Panama Canal. Nan- 
sen's and Amundsen's sturdy ship, the Fram, was also built of 
it. While British Guiana is cutting her crop of greenheart, the 
Dominican Republic is carrying hers in stock. 

The wretched roads are responsible for the importation of 
shiploads of American pine for building purposes, but the 
virtually untouched timber resources will be developed, as an 
Ohio firm has purchased 500,000,000 feet of mahogany and a 
Baltimore company the same amount of yellow pine. Logging 
roads are to be built and fertile clearings opened up for general 
agriculture. 



w 



CHAPTER LVII. 

THE MECCA OF MECCAS. 
E WERE glad to get away from the squalid little inn 
in La Vega, but as we rode out on the muddy trail to 
Moca we doubted that we had bettered ourselves. We had 
never seen mud quite so sloppy or so deep, but our valiant 
mules somehow kept above ground. There was no other way 
to connect with the Santiago-Puerto Plata Railway, but one 
compensation lay en route — the view of the Vega Real from 
the heights of Cerro Santo, the Sacred Mountain. Here 
Columbus stood when he first beheld the great valley. One 
hundred miles it stretches from this mountain to Samana Bay. 
Now towns, roads and the railway lay below us on the plain 
with the same sea of palms which waved a welcome to the 
Great Admiral. La Vega Real, he christened it, "The Royal 
Meadows," and all agree with him that there is none on earth 
more beautiful. 

The break between the two railroads of the Cibao looks but 
a step from the Cerro Santo. We were told in La Vega that 
this missing link is due to the exorbitant price put on certain 
cacao and coffee lands. We also heard that the ten miles of road 
between La Vega and Moca is vastly superior to the average 
Dominican highway. If this is true, aeroplanes had better 
start up business. The road has such an unpleasant habit of 
running back and forth across the river ; or perhaps the road is 
straight and the river does the "serpentine." At any rate, we 
were thankful to reach Moca and secure train connection all 
the way to the coast. 

Moca was the home of the late Ramon Caceres, the Farmer 
President, who owned the largest cacao estate in the Cibao. 
Here he spent the greater portion of his time away from the 
cares of state. As its name implies, Moca is also known to 

589 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 591 

local fame as a coffee center. Although raised mostly for 
home consumption, $250,000 worth of coffee was shipped last 
year. This was a big falling off from 1912, when over $566,000 
worth was exported. That old rascal, "Drought," was at the 
bottom of it again. 

It is a short run by rail to Santiago, more properly, Santiago 
de los Caballeros, founded back in 1504 by special permission 
from King Ferdinand of Spain as a grant to hidalgos of noble 
blood — hijos de algos — "sons of somebody." The "de los 
Caballeros" made of Santiago "A City of Gentlemen" and the 
inhabitants still insist on their full title. Here are the most 
conservative and purely "Dominican" people of the country. 

The city is an important tobacco center, the exports of leaf 
tobacco amounting to $1,000,000 annually, shipped for the 
most part to Hamburg. This tobacco sells for about $5 per 
hundred pounds. Some very good cigars are made in the 
country. The dried leaves of the Royal palm, called guana, are 
used as a protection for the tobacco as it comes into town from 
the country, packed in huge panniers swung on the backs of 
horses and burros. 

In Santiago we ate our first cakes made from banana flour. 
The delicious flavor of the fruit is retained when dried and 
pulverized. There is surely a future ahead for this industry. 




TOBACCO READY FOR SHIPMENT, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 



592 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

With a modern evaporating plant all the "rejected for ship- 
ment" bananas can be promptly converted into "Fine Banana- 
Flake Breakfast Food — Delicious, Digestible, Desirable." 
Some enterprising Yankee ought to put it on the market. It 
should, at least, beat wooden nutmegs. 

We were interested to learn that the Dominican Republic 
is one of the few places on earth which has amber in any 
great quantity, the bulk of the world's supply being found on 
the Baltic seacoast. Amber, which is simply fossilized rosin 
derived from certain coniferous trees, is found near Santiago 
in sandstone bordering the beds of streams, but the deposits 
have not yet been studied scientifically. So this country can 
furnish not only the wood for the making of a pipe and the 
tobacco to fill it, but can finish the pipe with an amber tip 
and supply matchwood on the side. 

We enjoyed the forty-two mile railroad "glide" from the 
plateau down to the sea. A rack system is used on a portion 
of the line and its operation is most expensive, four locomo- 
tives being required to elevate a loaded train. This spells 
"rack and ruin" to the receipts. A longer route has been sur- 
veyed which will eliminate the cogwheel system. An American 
improvement company built the road over twenty years ago, 
Belgium furnishing the money and the Dominicans guarantee- 
ing the interest. The improvement company made all the 
money, as it had an earning agreement with the Government, 
and Belgium had to whistle for her interest. Finally the 
improvement company was forced to sell out to the Dominicans. 

We met an American on the train who had absorbed a lot 
of specific knowledge of the country during eight years' service 
on a sugar estate. He looked promising, so we attacked him 
soon after we left Santiago with the direct question : "What 
is wrong, anyway,, with this country?" 

"With the country?" he replied. "Nothing. It's the peo- 
ple, the country is rich enough. It could support six million 
instead of a few hundred thousand. Why, over in the Cibao 
the soil is richer than the mud of the Nile! But you saw how 
few people cultivate it. Robinson Crusoe had more inhab- 



THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



593 



itants on his island than they have in whole sections here. 
Trouble is, they all want to be President, even if they get shot 
for it. They certainly did need us Americans down here to 
count the cash. And, will you believe it, even with all the 
fighting going on this last year, the volume of business passed 
the record. Nature just produced the goods in spite of the 
Dominicans. Duties high? Yes, many imports are taxed 
eighty and ninety per cent and this puts a check on develop- 




SOLDIER-POLICEMEN OF THE REPUBLIC. 



ment. I can't see why Uncle Sam doesn't have them reduce 
the duties. They are paying off the $20,000,000 debt alto- 
gether too speedily. When it's all paid up, the American 
receiver will have to pack his grip and get out, and then the 
politicians will get their grip on the treasury and there will be 
a revival of the dear old business of killing each other." 

In dealing with the Dominican Republic's affairs the United 
States authorities have a knotty problem to solve. It has 
developed that the Wilson administration is not fully satis- 
fied with the policy of the last administration in virtually 
assuming a protectorate over the republic. President Wilson, 



594 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

it is said, is not entirely in sympathy with the way in which 
Americans took control of the Dominican finances. Measures 
were taken whereby the customs revenues were apportioned so 
that certain "bad debts" were to be paid off, and it has been 
charged that some of the debts given preference were those of 
Wall Street financiers. This claim is always made. 

Puerto Plata is wonderfully situated on a peninsula, with 
cooling breezes from either side. It is the chief commercial 
port of the Republic, but not so much of a city in appearance 
as Santo Domingo or Santiago. It does not look old, nor is it 
especially interesting, although it was founded in the sixteenth 
century and has played its role in the island's history. This 
poor city has hardly missed a single revolution and, in fact, has 
been the bull's-eye in all political disturbances. The people 
have become accustomed to small rations and the smell of 
gunpowder. 

Monte Cristi, sixty-five miles to the west, is another coast 
port, where the climate is less tropical than at Puerto Plata ; in 
fact it lies in a semi-arid belt which parallels the eastern border 
of the Republic. They are beginning to raise cotton here with 
promising results. 

Halfway between Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi is the 
Mecca of Meccas for every one of us in the New World. 
Here, hidden in a deserted thicket, on a point where the Baja- 
bonico River meets the sea, lie the ruins of the oldest Christian 
settlement in the Americas. This was Isabela, the first town 
which Columbus built. 

We hope that some day a statue may be erected here in 
honor of the Great Admiral. In bronze he should stand 
through the years by the earth-covered fort of old Isabela, 
pointing westward where "the course of empire takes its way," 
though the time has arrived when the famous phrase should 
be altered to read, "Southward the course of empire takes its 
way," since nearly all the best and cheapest lands in the world 
now lie south of the United States, not west. 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 

Area, 10,204 square miles, a little larger than the State of 
Maryland — Population, 1013, estimated at 2,500,000, 
majority negroes — Chief resources, tobacco, sugar, cacao, 
cotton, coffee, timber, agriculture ; have copper, iron and 
coal, but are little developed — Total exports, 1912 {latest 
obtainable), $17,285485; imports, $0,876,555— Debt, gold, 
$24,362,609; paper currency, $15,514,812 — Army, 1913, 
about 25,000 — Navy, 4 small vessels — Railway, 350 miles 
building; telegraph lines, 124 miles — Capital, Port-au- 
Prince, population, 100,000 — President, General Orestes 
Zamor. 

CHAPTER LVIII. 

THE BLACK REPUBLIC. 

WHILE Haiti is not a United States colony and is not so 
closely connected with the American Government in a 
financial way as the Dominican Republic, its relation to our 
country is such that a description of it will, no doubt, be of 
much interest. 

As far as we are aware, Haiti's story has never been really 
staged in a literary sense. There is so much action that it 
would require three rings and several side shows to do it 
justice. It certainly lends itself to a black-face tragedy or a 
melodrama with blood and thunder in every scene. There 
would be enough material left over for a first-class minstrel 
show and a gorgeous costume piece. But, as a motion-picture 
film, it would hardly get by the censor. 

Since 1804, when the slaves slashed their way to freedom 
and launched a Black Republic, twenty-three rulers have 
essayed the role of "leading man" with disastrous results. 
Three were shot, two were poisoned, one was dynamited, one 
suicided. This accounts for seven. Eleven were driven into 
exile; two died in office; only three left the presidential chair 
personally intact. Rather a poor record to hand to a life insur- 
ance agent, for instance. 

595 



596 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 




STATUE OF DESSALINES, PORT-AU 
PRINCE, HAITI. 



This fertile country, where the 
white man is not allowed to own 
land, is an interesting study. Its 
childlike people have been bullied, 
ridiculed, exploited and maligned 
in turn, through the years. Once 
it was the richest of French posses- 
sions, the most productive bit of 
earth for its size on the globe. 
Negroes by the thousands were im- 
ported to toil on the white man's 
sugar estates. Then came the era 
of bloodshed, the battle of the 
slaves for freedom, led by the 
really noble Toussaint L'Ouver- 
ture, the greatest man the black 
race has ever produced. Trapped 
by the French, L'Ouverture died in 
a European prison, and his sav- 
age general, Dessalines, led the slaves to victory. No less a 
man than Rochambeau, commanding the flower of Napoleon's 
army, lowered the colors of France. 

Born in Africa, or the offspring of savages captured in the 
jungles of the Dark Continent, the Haitians were ill-fitted for 
self-government and have been left to work out their own 
salvation. The world has not held out the helping hand. 

Our steamer arrived at Port-au-Prince at daybreak, and we 
wish we could say that the town at near view looks as well as 
it does from the sea. Terracing up the mountain side, framed 
in verdure, no Caribbean city is more beautifully situated. 
Docking at the best pier in the West Indies, we passed a well- 
built customhouse, but from there on we seemed to note only 
the things that were missing. 

It is all very well for them to remind one that $200,000 has 
just been spent on street improvements ; that there is an electric 
plant ; a new system of water works ; a cathedral costing half a 
million ; a national bank ; schools, colleges and hospitals. The 



1 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 



597 



Haitians deserve credit for all this. But the traveler sees 
only the dirt and squalor and feels that he has strayed into the 
back yard by mistake. If one can stay in a villa up on the 
hills, where the aristocratic Haitians live, one is all right. If 
one must stay at a hotel down in the town, where microbes fly 
merrily about in the dust of unsprinkled streets, one is all 
wrong. There are 100,000 people in the capital, blacks, mulat- 
toes and about 500 foreigners. White is not a fashionable 
shade. The national motto is ''Haiti for the Haitians." 

"Generals are thicker than flies down here," the steamer 
captain told us, and on the very first street back of the water- 
front we met a batch of officers, dazzling beyond description, 
their multi-colored uniforms heavily incrusted with gilt. We 
followed some tattered soldiers to a public square. They did 
not seem in the least belligerent. Some sprawled in the shade 
chewing sugar cane; others accosted us with the one scrap of 
English on the tongue of every Haitian private, "Give me five 
cents." 

There are over 20,000 of these ragamuffins under arms and 
probably 6,000 bedecked officers. The privates receive prac- 




TYPICAL STREET SCENE IN PORT-AU-PRINCE. 




i 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 



599 



tically no pay, but pick up a little cash when off duty by doing 
odd chores. We saw six of them washing bottles in a soda- 
water factory. Much of the national vitality is lost in this 
irregular army, useless to repel invasion, always making trou- 
ble at home. As the President is usually a military chief who 
happens to get possession of the troops, bayonets have an 
important bearing on his tenure of office, and as a German 
merchant expressed it, "Here in Haiti you can do about any- 
thing with a bayonet excepting sit on it." 

"But why under the sun do they have so many generals?" 
we asked. 

"Well, you see it's an old custom," he said. "They were 
always afraid the French would come back and take the coun- 
try. So they decided to have a skeleton army in the back- 
ground with plenty of officers in the front row and call in the 
field hands in case of trouble. They all want to be generals, 
A general can rent soldiers out for all sorts of work and 
keep half the money. A big politician managed to get a gen- 
eral's commission for his prospective son and heir, some years 
ago, but the child turned out to be a girl." 




H niii 



"•".:<, 



PORT-AU-PRINCE GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. 



6oo OUR DEPENDENCIES 

We photographed a good many generals and believe that the 
camera is the most effective weapon that can be used against 
them. It always brings them to a halt and a heroic pose. 

In spite of their early hatred of the French, the Haitians 
speak the tongue of their former masters and are very fond of 
high-sounding Latin names, "Bonaparte" and " Voltaire" being 
great favorites. They draw on mythology, on the sciences, 
in fact, they will soar to any height. We met a "General Nep- 
tune" and a "General Oxygen." Perfectly good names, we 
suppose. We did not meet a "General Debility." 

A number of fairly creditable Government buildings face 
the Champ de Mars, the mam square of the capital. Here is 
the platform, with the Royal palm, typical of every Haitian 
city, called the "Altar of the Country." It seems to be a sort 
of national shrine. Ornamenting the railing of the platform 
are busts of heroes, L'Ouverture, Dessalines, Petion and 
others, and, what strikes the traveler as strange at first, all the 
marble faces are black. 

A tragedy in the Champ de Mars was the blowing up 
of the presidential mansion in 1912, killing Chief Executive 
Leconte and 600 others, a very terrible affair. A new Haitian 
White House (or perhaps we should say say "Black House") 
is to be erected on this site. 

The Simon administration ended in ignominious flight 
across the Champ de Mars to the pier, when the President 
and his followers sought refuge on the island of Jamaica, the 
adopted home of dark gentlemen in trouble. Simon had 
planned to leave on a gunboat, but all were out of commission, 
so he boarded an American schooner. 

Haiti has had sad luck with her navy, and is at present all 
"black and blue" over her efforts to make real tars of her 
dusky landsmen. The last coffee bean was expended in pur- 
chasing a fleet of broken-down tugs and yachts, all of which 
apparently yearned to become submarines, some with complete 
success. 

The Conserva, purchased on the bargain counter in Brook- 
lyn, sailed for her new home on a foggy morning. She 



i 



602 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



was a leaky tub, and after passing Sandy Hook was never 
heard of again. So far as is known, not a soul survived. 

The old yacht Earl King was also a New York purchase, 
and under the proud title of Liberie, lasted a full year before 
blowing up with seventy unfortunate Haitians. 

Some speculators unloaded the antique Italian cruiser 
Umbria on President Simon, and a native engineer soon had 
her ready for the junk pile. The engineer's previous experi- 
ence had been on a narrow-gauge railroad. The first officer 
had formerly occupied the position of chef at a hotel in Port- 
au-Prince. 

The gunboat Centenaire was sent to Jamaica for repairs 
and condemned as worthless. The Seventeenth of December, 
a large yacht of American construction, got as far as Haiti on 
her maiden voyage and broke down. The gunboat Ferrier, 
formerly the $1,000,000 yacht America, after lying in pawn 
for months in the Delaware River, waiting in vain for neces- 
sary repair funds from Haiti, was at last sold to the University 




THE NEW MARKET, PORT-AU-PRINCE. 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 603 

of Pennsylvania and sent up the Amazon on an exploring 
expedition. Here it was finally abandoned as unseaworthy. 

Uncle Sam at last showed pity and allowed Commander 
White, engineer officer of the United States Navy, a year's 
leave of absence to undertake the reorganization of the "Black 
Armada." All his Yankee ingenuity will be required to doctor 
up Haiti's ocean cripples and he certainly will be handicapped 
if the Haitians are able to translate his name ! 

If you want to see the people of Haiti at their liveliest, take 
your smelling salts and sally forth to the marketplace. You 
will find one market well housed, where the food is shaded 
from the fierce tropic sun, and another, more popular, in an 
open square. Here the glistening white cathedral with its 
stately spires seems out of tune with the surroundings, as it 
towers above overladen donkeys, sun-spoiled products and a 
chattering, perspiring crowd of blacks. 

As we stood on the cathedral steps looking down on this 
motley array, two Haitians of the educated class passed by 
engaged in an animated discussion as to the merits of a certain 
drama just produced in Paris. One carried a well-known 
French periodical under his arm. The other, my guide in- 
formed me, was a poet of local fame. In spite of the extreme 
heat they were attired in top hats and frock coats, the neces- 
sary essentials for every Haitian who wishes to be taken 
seriously. 

The American legation, although situated in town instead 
of up in the pure air of the hills, is a pretentious building. The 
new American minister, Mr. Bailey Blanchard, will probably 
have a villa on the heights, at some distance from the capital, 
where the full beauty of the island and the remarkable situation 
of Port-au-Prince can be appreciated. 

A Government proclamation issued during our visit stated 
that a loan of $1,500,000 was to be negotiated for further 
public works. The Haitian capital has been improved greatly 
in recent years. In time, if the revolutionists will permit the 
good work to keep on, it may live up in a half-hearted way, at 
least, to its charming environment. 



CHAPTER LIX. 

PEOPLE TOWNS AND RESOURCES. 

LIKE a pail overflowing with blackberries is Haiti, the 
Ebony Land. There are 2,500,000 inhabitants, 240 to 
the square mile, a population seven times as compact as in the 
United States. The Black Republic is an earnest contestant 
in the race of nations for density of population, led only, in the 
New World, by Porto Rico, Salvador and Barbados. Eighty 
per cent of the natives are full-blooded negroes, the remainder 
mulattoes. Whites are such a negligible quantity as to show 
hardly a trace in the analysis. The inky-hued have always 
shown aversion even to the mulattoes, and very few Haitian 
Presidents have exhibited a tinge of the deadly white on the 
pure black of their escutcheons. 

When roused by the fear of recurrent white domination, 
these happy-go-lucky children of nature revert to savagery, 
fighting to preserve for their own this one little isle of the 
earth where they are working out their dusky destiny. 

"Are Americans popular down here?" we asked an edu- 
cated Haitian who spoke English fluently. 

"Black ones might be, if they came," he answered, "but they 
seldom do. The Americans we usually see are the promoters 
who come to get Government concessions for railroads and 
municipal improvements, and this always means another 
mortgage on our coffee crop. If you want the truth, the Stars 
and Stripes were formerly much respected, but, about six 
years ago, a revolution broke out up the coast at St. Marc, and 
several of the leaders, when pursued, sought refuge in the 
American consulate. The Haitian Government cabled Wash- 
ington and Washington replied, ordering the consul to give up 
the rebels. They were taken out and shot and the bitterness 
of their sympathizers has grown with the years." 

604 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 605 




AN OLD FRENCH AQUEDUCT, HAITI. 

We found, in spite of much ill feeling against Americans 
and whites in general, that we are doing business in Haiti. The 
McDonald Syndicate has a big railroad concession; A. M. 
Archer has but recently restored the old French irrigation sys- 
tem near Port-au-Prince for the Government and installed 
electric plants in a number of cities ; Berlin & March, an 
American firm, have the street-paving contract in the capital, 
and American companies are cutting and exporting hardwoods 
and developing a copper mine. 

United States firms also manage to supply the bulk of 
Haiti's needs, selling them about $6,000,000 of their average 
annual imports of about $9,000,000 per year, while Great 
Britain, France and other countries trail behind in the race for 
trade. Not one of them has got into the million-dollar class ! 

Out on the country roads we noticed that most of the 
plump black madames and mademoiselles bringing produce 
into town were clad in blue denim, and curiosity led us to 
inquire where the cloth came from. A German merchant 
admitted with a show of feeling that it was not manufactured 



6o6 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



in Hamburg. "It is Yankee trash," he said. We learned 
later that the goods came from Massachusetts and outclassed 
everything of the sort that the Germans could produce in color, 
wearing quality and price. 

Last year we sold the Haitians 150 typewriters and 2,000 
sewing machines. And wonder of wonders, we sold them 
2,500,000 fishhooks ! Every native gets one American hook 
per year, so the European merchants will begin to say that we 
win the trade by "hook or crook," with an accent on the 
crook! But this is mere trade jealousy and we will keep on 
fishing. 

Haiti's exports last year were about $18,000,000, but 
Uncle Sam, after looking over the stock, decided there was 
very little he cared to buy. He did select some logwood to 




BUSY DAY AT A HAITIAN LAUNDRY. 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 



607 




A SAND-BOX TREE, HAITI. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL TROPICAL TREES. 



use as a dye, a few goat skins and 1,000 tortoise shells — the 
whole lot worth only $350,000. All the rest went to Europe, 
over two-thirds to France. German merchants formerly made 
fortunes in handling Haitian products. There was no magic 
in it. They bought on the bargain counter, and poor Haiti, 
spending every cent in sight, has only been able to import half 
the value of her exports. 

The coffee bean is the mainstay of the country. Over 
50,000,000 pounds were exported last year. The soil of the 
island is so rich that scarcely any effort is required to produce 
this "national meal-ticket." Trees planted 300 years ago by 
the French are still bearing, although Mother Nature begins 
to cry for assistance and crops are diminishing. Brazil became 
for a time a fairy godmother to all the little coffee-producing 
countries of the world by maintaining prices with Government 
assistance, so the value of Haiti's output gradually increased 
in spite of diminished production, until we tried to run South 
America by mixing in Brazil's business, and, not understanding 
the situation, lost friends. Since then, the coffee price has 



608 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

weakened. Women do the picking and are far more industrious 
than the men, but the really busy ones of the island are the 
bees. They manage to supply enough honey for local demand 
and 200^000 gallons for export ; just as a side line, they produce 
100,000 pounds of beeswax. 

In Port-au-Prince we passed a shoe factory and stepped in 
to look it over. We were surprised to find such a well-equipped 
plant. Only native workmen are employed, two hundred of 
them. One proprietor tans his own leather and is able to pro- 
duce a finished shoe at a lower price than French or American 
importations. Of course our shoe machines were used. 

The capital has five miles of steam tramway and is the 
terminus of railroads extending in three directions — westward 
along the coast to the rich vale of Leogane; eastward across 
the fertile plain of the Cul-de-Sac to the great lakes on the 
Dominican frontier ; northward toward St. Marc. 

We rode out to Leogane with the American construction 
superintendent. The road, he informed us, was built by the 
Plains Railway Company, Haitian, German and American 
interests, and cost $12,000 a mile. It has paid from the start. 
The vice-president lives in New York. The line taps ninety 
square miles of the richest soil of the Republic, a plain sloping 
gradually to the sea, well watered by three mountain streams. 
We found sugar, cacao and cotton under cultivation. Haiti 
exported 12,000,000 pounds of cotton and cotton seed last 
year. The fiber is not so long as that grown in the United 
States, but could be greatly improved by proper seed selection. 
Cheap land and cheap labor make this branch of industry 
remunerative on a large scale, but the area is limited. 

On the parent railroad of the country, we traveled from 
Port-au-Prince up to the border lakes, crossing the richest large 
area of the Republic, the locally famous plain of the Cul-de-Sac. 
In Haiti the term "plain" is used simply to distinguish between 
the general mountainous character of the island and the 
stretches of more or less level land. "Haiti" is an old Indian 
name meaning "High Land." They tell a story of how King 
George III. asked a British admiral how the island looked. 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 



609 



"It looks just like this," he answered, as he crumpled a piece 
of paper and threw it on the table. In fact, a good part of the 
country seems to stand on end, not having room to spread. 

The Cul-de-Sac Railroad is a very light-weight affair, but 
has been highly profitable, as it taps the garden of the French 
Colonial regime. Then the whole plain bloomed throughout 
the year under irri- 
gation, and the recon- 
struction of the 
French aqued u c t s, 
long ago fallen to 




decay, is the most important 
work, in many ways, under- 
taken by the Haitians. An 
American engineer, A. M. 
Archer, received $200,000 
from the Government for the 
work. He rebuilt the dam, 
one hundred and eighty feet 



GLIMPSES OF THE RESTORED 
FRENCH IRRIGATION 
40 SYSTEM. 



6io 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



in length and twenty-seven feet high, and cleared a main canal 
twenty feet wide, extending ten miles across the plain. A 
second canal is sixteen miles long. Water is fed into the 
lower channel by means of a 2,800-foot siphon. Much of the 
old French construction was utilized. This work restores 
cultivation to a tract parched in the dry season, and sugar and 
cotton plantations have come into their own again. 

Our train climbed one thousand feet in the twenty-eight 
miles between Port-au-Prince and Lake Saumatre, but seemed 
much higher above sea level, for the woods bordering the lake 
are rather of the temperate zone. The pine tree flourishes 
here, and two years ago revolutionists destroyed a profitable 
sawmill. The owners, the Peters Brothers, although born in 
the country, were British subjects, so it was the captain of a 
British warship who collected the indemnity, not very long ago, 
after threatening to blow up Port-au-Prince, if it was not 
forthcoming. 

The view from the heights above Saumatre is marvel- 
ously beautiful. In the distance we could see the twin lake, 
Enriquillo, extending into Dominican territory. At our feet, 
the Cul-de-Sac was spread out like a map. It was a first-class 
geography lesson. A good hotel would make these heights a 
popular summer resort for the upper-class Haitians, who now 
stick close to their villas on the hills above Port-au-Prince. 




SIGNALING IN THE PORT OF JACMEL, HAITI. 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 



611 




A STREET IN AUX CAYES, SOUTHERN HAITI. 



The McDonald Railroad, now building, will traverse the 
country from Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitien, a distance of 
two hundred miles, with branch lines into the interior. The 
valley of the Artibonite, the largest river of the island will be 
tapped. Stretches of the road are already constructed, the one 
up the coast from the capital now reaching L'Arcahaie, an 
important banana plantation. 

We never saw elsewhere such a forest of bananas as at 
L'Arcahaie. The fruit is the staple article of diet of the peas- 
ants, and they give you raw bananas for breakfast, fried 
bananas for luncheon, banana-flour cakes for dinner, and fried 
plantains in between meals. These plants are staples of the 
tropics. It was from here banana plants were taken to Africa. 

No railroad as yet connects the capital with the towns of 
Aux Cayes and Jacmel, on the south coast, but the Dutch 
steamers on their voyage between New York and Amsterdam 
touch here, as did the French and, formerly, German lines 
bound from Jamaica to Porto Rico. From the sea these towns 
are picturesque, but on landing we found them very dirty and 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 



613 





-itU, 



CAKES 



AND GLASSWARE FOR SALE, 
AUX CAYES, HAITI. 



unsanitary. They ex- 
port much coffee, cotton 
and dye-wood, and the 
few foreigners engaged 
in business look a woe- 
begone, homesick lot. 
One cannot imagine a 
worse fate than to be 
stranded in Aux Cayes, 
which is also called Les 
Cayes and just Cayes. 

The traveler who sees 
only these coast towns 
of Haiti forms a poor 
and a partial impression 
of the country as a 
whole. Fortunately for 
our opinion of the Hai- 
tians, we visited interior villages where the people are far more 
cleanly, where we obtained a very different idea of the independ- 
ent black man and his future than can be gained among the 
shifting cosmopolitan population of a port. Though Haiti as a 
subordinate unit among the nations of the earth is undesirably 
defective both in organization and people, the fact must not be 
overlooked that here is the first attempt of black men to conduct 
a civilized government. When it is considered that not so very 
long ago this line of human beings were jungle-men, afterward 
debased by years of slavery, one must admit that they are 
doing very well. Here, at least, they have not the white man's 
competition to meet, an inexorable force that scientific men 
have asserted must ultimately wear out and destroy the black 
race wherever it has been injected into the main human stream. 
Hence, the Haitians are to be congratulated, and who knows 
but that this little Republic may, through example, prove to be 
the ultimate salvation of the colored race? We hope so. 



CHAPTER LX. 

THE REAL HAITIANS. 

WE NEEDED no alarm clock the day we started on our 
saddle journey from Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitien. 
Every morning, bright and early, at the witching hour of four 
o'clock, the bugle wails forth from the Champ de Mars. The 
racket continues for a half-hour, so it is hardly possible to 
indulge in further sleep. 

This particular morning the bugle call was augmented by 
the cries of an angry populace and, rushing into our riding 
togs, we ran down to the street, expecting to find a dress 
rehearsal for a first-class revolution. The excitement was due, 
we learned, to the noncompliance of the Syrian merchants of 
the capital with a recent presidential decree. It seems they 
had been ordered to take out a well-nigh prohibitory license 
before conducting any further business. The time limit had 
expired, and the several hundred big-eyed Syrians were a badly 
scared lot that morning, as the Haitians had decided to eject 
them, bag and baggage, from the country. 

The French minister now came to the rescue, filing a pro- 
test against their banishment, and troops were called out to 
maintain order. Many of the frightened merchants sought 
refuge in the French legation ; others boarded a German 
steamer bound for New York. We learned afterward that our 
port doctors found a case of leprosy aboard, and had the ship 
fumigated and the party isolated. But just what to do with 
them became a problem. Haiti would not welcome their 
return, while Uncle Sam did not intend to include lepers in the 
list of Haitian imports. They were finally sent back to Haiti 
and placed under the protection of the French minister. 

In our journey across the island, we followed the right of 
way and. completed portions of the McDonald Railroad, being 

614 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 



615 




BRINGING VEGETABLE ROPE TO MARKET. 











I 



A RURAL FERRY IN HAITI. 



616 OUR DEPENDENCIES 

built with New York capital. This concession has caused 
great uneasiness throughout Haiti, for, while the educated class 
realize that such a road means everything to the country, the 
masses see only the advent of the white man and are suspicious 
and distrustful. 

It is a matter of history that the granting of a cabinet-wood 
concession to Americans caused the overthrow of President 
Nord Alexis, and President Simon's downfall was due to his 
friendly attitude toward foreigners. The original McDonald 
plan was most complete. It provided for the building of 
350 miles of railroad, connecting the four principal seaports, 
at an expenditure of $13,000,000. It was considered rather 
a juicy concession, but Wall Street expects that sort of thing 
in planting money in a turbulent land. The bonds were issued 
for $32,000 a mile, drawing a guaranteed interest of six per 
cent from the Government. A fifty years' lease of all unoc- 
cupied lands for ten miles on either side of the road ; a banana 
concession; and the right to operate a steamer line between 
Cap Haitien and foreign countries without port dues were 
included in the framing of the concession. After much lobby- 
ing, the bill went through, and a year before our visit the con- 
struction gang arrived with full equipment and began the laying 
of 8,000 tons of fifty-six-pound rails. Of the 1,500 employes 
we found that 200 were Americans. In September, 191 3, the 
line Port-au-Prince to St. Marc was opened to traffic. 

From the banana plantation of L'Arcahaie, seventeen miles 
up the coast from Port-au-Prince, where we left the railroad, 
our trail led to St. Marc, the coffee port, a day's saddle journey. 
We say the coffee port, in speaking of St. Marc, for this brand 
of coffee has become so famous in Europe that it seemed to be 
shipped from every Haitian port. We found this a bit bewilder- 
ing until initiated into the devious ways of coffee export. 

There is no more attractive ride in the tropics than the one 
between L'Arcahaie and St. Marc. The road borders a spark- 
ling, iridescent sea, shaded by overbranching trees. On the 
other side are coffee and cotton estates, terracing up the hill- 
sides, m St. Marc there is neither hotel nor club. You can 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 617 

sleep at the barracks, or pitch camp in the square. If you 
come with letters, perhaps some foreign buyer of coffee will 
take you in. 

The second day's ride carried us on to Gona'ives, a logwood 
port, with an excellent harbor, and a very dry and healthful 
climate. Haiti has every variety of clime and scenery, from 
steaming tropic valleys to semi-arid plains. Gona'ives is over- 
whelmingly proud of being the birthplace of Haitian independ- 
ence, but it is a squalid little town. It boasts a club, however, 
where the traveler is hospitably received. Here we lounged on 
a shady veranda overlooking the waterfront and watched men 
loading logwood, hides and honey — a unique combination — - 
on board a New York steamer. 

We chatted with a superintendent of construction on the 
McDonald Railroad and found him greatly impressed with the 
possibilities of the country. 

"Fertile? Well, rather!" he said. "And I have no com- 
plaint to make against the Haitian workmen. They think thirty 
cents a day good wages. But, you see, they don't have to 
work all the time to keep alive. They can go out most any- 
where and pick a mango or a plantain, and rum, coffee and 
cigarettes are absurdly cheap. This all makes for indolence, 
and a slipshod mode of living. Drink? Yes, they get away 
with a lot of taffia, the native rum, but they are more tem- 
perate than darkies I've employed elsewhere." 

"What do you know about the Voodoo?" we asked the rail- 
road man who had lived there long enough really to know the 
people. This horrible form of sorcery with its cannibalistic 
rites, brought over by the slaves from Africa, has long been a 
headliner in the newspapers. 

"Oh, you hear about it all the time," he answered, "but 
usually from people who have never been out of the capital. 
I've traveled everywhere myself and have never seen it. I've 
watched a good many of the so-called Voodoo dances, too, but 
they seen to be just ordinary 'boozefests,' in the good old 
English of the States. The French- jabbering blacks just love 
to dance, and they do prance about outlandishly to the thump- 



6i8 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



ing of a crude sort of drum. They keep it up all night. But 
I don't take much stock in this yarn of their eating little chil- 
dren. Perhaps, 'way back in the mountains, they may have 
an old-fashioned 'snowflake party' now and then, the sort 
their grandfathers loved, but I don't think they ever get beyond 
the sacrifice of roosters and an occasional goat." 

And this is about all we could learn of Voodooism from 
any one who really knew the country. 

The trail from Gona'ives to Cap Haitien on the north coast 
leaves the shore and strikes into the interior, across the moun- 
tains. Up, up, we toiled, from the cactus to the palm, from 
the palm to the pine, until we reached the wonderful valley of 
Plaisance, not only the gem of Haiti, but all tropical America. 
This is the botanist's Paradise. From pine-clad heights we 
dropped down into Nature's prize conservatory, massed with 
ferns, orchids, and every variety of climbing vine. The little 
rain-swept village of Plaisance is a revelation to the traveler, 
something distinctly different from the unkempt towns of the 




SOLDIERS AND CHURCH IN PLAISANCE, NORTHERN HAITI. 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 619 

coast. Here happy-faced, neatly-clad people were in every 
cabin doorway. There was none of that "back-yard look" we 
associate with colored folks of the poorer class. These were 
the real Haitians, we decided, the dignified, self-respecting 
country folk, untainted by a poor quality of white blood. In 
these natives of interior valley and highland plain lies, perhaps, 
the real hope for the Black Republic. 

The way on to Cap Haitien follows the fine old French 
highway, amid such magnificent scenery as one associates with 
greater mountain ranges. In Plaisance we slept in the home of 
a kind French priest and next evening reached the Club Union 
in Cap Haitien, a very comfortable club where foreigners live, 
Germans for the most part. 

Cap Haitien was the "Cap Francois" of the French, truly 
"The Little Paris of the New World," and today, in spite of 
years of devastation and degeneration, it is the most French of 
all Haitian towns in architecture. As we stood among the ruins 
of the crumbling palace back of the town, we conjured up bril- 
liant scenes of other days, when Pauline Bonaparte, sister of 
Napoleon, held court here, as the wife of the French General 
Leclerc. Her dissipations and follies and Leclerc's death from 
yellow fever are part of the tragic tale of France's lost garden 
colony. 

Returning to Paris, Pauline cut her beautiful hair and 
buried it in her husband's casket. "What a touching tribute 
to wifely devotion !" some one remarked to Napoleon. "Oh, 
she knows that her hair is bound to fall out, since she, too, had 
the fever," said Napoleon, cynically. "She is quite sure that 
it will come in longer and thicker for being cropped." 

Some miles inland from "The Cape," as the foreigners call 
Cap Haitien, is the African Versailles, the ruined palace of 
Sans Souci, built by Christophe, the Black Napoleon. After 
the death of Dessalines, the first Haitian ruler, the country was 
divided between two of his generals. Christophe, appointing 
himself "King Henry," ruled in the north. 

Sans Souci, King Henry's royal palace, was furnished mar- 
velously, in the best European style. Two American ladies 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 



621 






RUINS OF THE STAIRWAY OF HONOR, PALACE OF SANS SOUCI. 



from Philadelphia came down to instruct the regal black 
princesses. High up on a mountain, overlooking palace, plain 
and sea, Christophe built the great fortress of La Ferriere, 
today the most remarkable ruin in the Western Hemisphere. 
Here galleries filled with hundreds of cannon looked down on 
the path of French ships and the might of La Ferriere towered 
across the sea. It is said that 30,000 men lost their lives in 
the building of this grim giant citadel, for Christophe was as 
cruel as he was strong. Those who could not do his bidding 
were thrown valleyward to their death. 

He copied his court life from the monarchies of the Old 
World, creating a full line of nobles. There was a "Duke of 
Marmalade" and a "Count of Lemonade" (names of Haitian 
districts). One poor man was forced to bear the title, "Count 
d'Coco." No doubt he was lucky to keep his "coco" on his 
neck! 

Christophe did much to promote agriculture. He even 
brought plows from the States, and American experts to 



622 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



operate them. He tried to educate his people, introducing the 
Protestant religion. Today the American Protestant Episcopal 
Church spends $12,000 a year here and has fifteen colored 
clergymen. There are seventeen other Protestant missions in 
the country, 30,000 converts in all, out of 2,500,000 people. 

After years of firm rule, in which he accomplished wonders, 
Christophe's luck turned. Escaping from revolting slaves, he 
suicided at La Ferriere. 

We climbed up the fortress for the magnificent view and 
never have had a stirler climb. It puts one in the Alpine class. 





FORTRESS OF CHRISTOPHE AND 
THE GALLERY OF CANNON, 
HAITI. 

From the parapet we looked 
down on the little village of 
Milot, with its moss-grown 
ruin of Sans Souci ; on the 
white highroad to Cap Hai- 
tien ; on the seacoast from the 



REPUBLIC OF HAITI 



623 



Dominican border to the island of Tortuga. From Tortuga 
came the buccaneers who first settled Haiti. There seem to 
be a good many blots on the country's escutcheon. 

But taking it all in all — tragic past history, blood lines, 
racial prejudice — no doubt we fortunate, civilized Ameri- 
cans have been and still are a little unsympathetic in our atti- 
tude toward Haiti and the Haitians. After all, these people of 




THE TREE UNDER WHICH KING CHRISTOPHE RENDERED JUSTICE. 



624 



OUR DEPENDENCIES 



the Black Republic are only children 
in the evolution of the races. Why 
not treat them with tolerance and 
kindness rather than with ridicule and 
contempt? Their lot is a hard one, 
and they will finally go down in the 
march of civilization. 

The Haitian situation is one of 
Uncle Sam's problems. As a republic, 
Haiti is a derelict. Not long ago, 
Captain Charles Young, a full-blooded 
American negro, one of two of his 
race who ever were graduated from 
an American military academy, spent 
three years in Haiti as a military 
attache. He went armed with a 
knowledge of French. His conclusion, 
after a thorough study of conditions, 
was that Haiti could never succeed 
in maintaining a stable government — 
that its only hope lay in intervention 
by the United States, with local con- 
trol left in the hands of the Haitian 
people. 

Often the eyes of the European 
countries are turned greedily upon 
Haiti, and this makes the responsibil- 
ity of the United States more weighty. 
Unsettled political conditions follow- 
ing the death of President Tancrede 
Auguste caused a German cruiser, 
which was coaling at St. Thomas, 
Danish West Indies, to be hurriedly 
dispatched to Port-au-Prince. This, 
of course, was a step to protect Ger- 
mans in Haiti from danger in a pos- 
sible revolution, but it illustrates the 
sort of problem which haunts Uncle 




REPUBLIC OF HAITI 625 

Sam. Michael Oreste, the new President of the Republic, 
opened his rule with an energetic suppression of the disorders 
which, as usual, marked the change of administration. How- 
ever, he held the office less than a year, being succeeded 
February, 1914, by General Orestes Zamor, who has a real job 
ahead of him. 

Another issue at stake, besides the progress of the Haitians, 
is the maintenance of peace between Haiti and the Dominican 
Republic. Two peoples, alien in blood, traditions, customs, 
language, occupy the same little isle, and the border feud has 
waged through the centuries. Since the seventeenth century, 
when the Tortuga buccaneers who settled Haiti raided the cat- 
tle ranges of the Spaniards on the eastern side of the island, 
the hatred has grown and the border line has been in dispute. 

The Dominicans have the greater territory, the Haitians 
the larger population. It is natural, then, that the latter should 
have encroached on Dominican soil. The Haitian border- 
lands are immensely fertile, while the Dominican frontier is 
semi-arid. Nature seems to have marked the boundary. 

After traveling through both republics, one forms the opin- 
ion that intervention is ultimately inevitable, if there is to be 
peace. But the administration of local affairs should be the 
people's. The strong must help the weak. The intelligent must 
educate the ignorant. And so we are compelled to prophesy 
that the responsibilities and assorted worries of Uncle Sam, 
self-appointed guardian of the lesser American republics, are 
bound to increase with the years. As a nation, we hope and 
believe, we will be equal to the great task that seems to be ours, 
and work out some fixed colonial policy. The past turbulent 
history of Haiti will surely be repeated in the Philippine 
Islands, should they be "turned loose 1 ' to struggle with the 
problem of attempting self-government. 



626 OUR DEPENDENCIES 



CONCLUSION 

My experience with and observation of the Red or Brown 
Men of every country of Asia, the Black Men of Africa, and 
the Red and Black Men of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean 
waters, have convinced me that they do not comprehend the 
Christian, civilized understanding and meaning of liberty and 
equality, without which they are not fitted for self-government. 
My firm conviction is that these people are not morally or 
intellectually competent to rule themselves without continually 
resorting to murder, war, bloodshed and waste. If left to 
themselves they will be governed by a Dictator or absolute 
Monarch of medieval type and coming from among themselves. 
This means their ultimate extinction, as the American Indians 
were swept away by their own internecine wars and the natural 
growth of the superior white race. 

Wars between white nations, in the long run, usually pro- 
duce a better state of civilization, whereas wars between yellow 
and black peoples result in the lowering of the standards of 
such civilization as they may have had. 

My belief is that God in giving the American Continent 
and European country into the hands of white men, purposed 
through them to produce civilization and the working out of 
His will, and that the United States of North America has 
only begun, in extending its colonial work, to advance along 
the lines intended by the Creator, and that no step should be 
taken by us in turning His and our wards back to their old 
state of darkness. 

THE END. 



INDEX 



ABACA, 281. 

Agana capital of Guam, 217. 

Agno, the, 294. 

Agriculture, in Alaska, 60-69; 
character of soil, 60, 61, 63; 
government homestead laws, 
61, 63; agricultural experiment 
stations in Alaska, 64-65, 66, 
67, 82; in Philippine Islands, 

- 259, 303, 367; in Cuba, 540; prin- 
cipal products, Alaska, 67-68; 
early agriculture in Hawaii, 
138; in the Philippine Islands, 
262, 343; in the Republic of 
Panama, 468; in Cuba, 537-539. 
540; in Haiti, 595; fertility of 
the soil, 596; products, 608; 
Christophe's efforts to promote, 
621. 

Aguadilla, 408, 439. 

Aguinaldo, 237, 291-294, 388. 

Aguirre, 428. 

Agus River, 369. 

Agusan, 363, 367. 

Agusan Farm School Settlement, 
367. 

Agusan River, 367. 

Ahern, Major, 377. 

Ah Fong Wing, story of, 164-167. 

Aibonito, 455. 

Alabang, 259. 

Alaska, area and population of, 1; 
resources of, 1; climate and 
causes therefor, 3, 4; race 
source of people of, 6; evolu- 
tion of people, manners and 
customs, 6-12; discovery, 13; 
history of the Russian occupa- 
tion, 14-22; first permanent set- 
tlement in, 16; first survey, 17; 
the trading companies in, 16, 
18, 19, 21, 25, 28; boundaries 
fixed, 24; purchase from Rus- 
sia, 25-27; military govern- 
ment established in, 27; fur 
trading in, 28; civil govern- 
ment established in, 30; devel- 
opment of mining, 31-39 (see 
Gold); United States policy in, 
34, 35, 39, 45, 46, 93, 101, 127; 
railroads in, 40-47; history of 
seal industry, 48-56; fishing in- 
dustry in, 56-60; agricul- 
ture, 60-69; development of 
interior country, 69-86; prin- 
cipal coast cities, 92-108; created 
a Territory, 127; form of pres- 
ent government, 127-128; first 
Legislature of, 127-128; politi- 
cal parties in, 128; woman suf- 
frage granted in, 128; recent 
laws enacted in, 128, 129; appro- 



priations and taxes in, 128, 129. 

Alaska Coal Party, 13-14. 

Alaska Commercial Company, 
the, 28, 49. 

Alaska-Gastineau Mining Com- 
pany, the, 34. 

Alaska Northern Railroad, 44, 

Albatross, 212, 213. 

Albay, 274, 279. 

Alexis, President Nord, 616. 

Algaroba, 194, 195. 

Algue, Father, 245. 

Almacen, 588. 

Almiqui, 540. 

Aloha, 210. 

Amber, 592. 

America, the, 602. 

Amigos del Pueblo, 503, 

Ancon (city), 472. 

Ancon, 473. 

Antilla, 554. 

Antimonan, 263. 

Anvik, 31, 84. 

Anway, C. H., 95. 

Aparri, 331. 

Apayao, 324. 

Apo, 314. 

Apo (mountain), 381. 

Aquarium, in Honolulu, 175; in 
Manila, 248. 

Arayat, Mount, 294. 

Archer, A. M., 605, 609. 

Area of Alaska, 1, 41; of the 
Hawaiian Islands, 130; of the 
Philippine Islands, 211, 221; 
of Porto Rico, 406; of Canal 
Zone, 460; of the Republic of 
Panama, 460; of Cuba, 495; of 
the Dominican Republic, 566; of 
Haiti, 595. 

Arecibo, 444, 452, 454. 

Arecibo Pass, 452, 453. 

Arecibo River, 453. 

Arevalo, 347. 

Ashford, Dr. Bailey K., 432, 434. 

Aux Cayes, 611. 613. 

BAGOBOS, the, 366. 

Bagsak, 386; battle at, 390, 391. 

Baguio, 293, 294, 295, 297, 326; 
population of, 299; appearance 
of, 300; dog market at, 301; 
constabulary school at, 313. 

Bahamas, the, 408. 

Bahia Honda, 562. 

Bajabonico River, 594. 

Baker Island, 218. 

Balboa, discovers western shore 
of Pacific, 132; parentage of, 
134; misses Hawaiian Islands, 
136; his vision of the Panama 
Canal and report to Spain, 469; 



41 



627 



628 



INDEX 



Balboa — continued. 

in Santo Domingo, 570. 

Balboa (city), 482. 485. 

Baltimore, the, 286. 

Balut, 272. 

Bamboo, 332, 334, 335, 366. 

Banana flour, 591, 611. 

Bananas, 460, 465, 467, 468, 539, 
563, 592, 611. 

Banaue, constabulary post at, 313. 

Bancas, 266. 

Banqueros, 266. 

Baracoa, 563. 

Baranof, Alexander Andrevitch, 
18, 19, 21. 

Barnacles, 481. 

Barong, 369, 379. 

Barrio, 335. 

Basket weaving, Hawaii, 138. 

Batabano, 519, 522, 524. 

Bas Obispo, 478. 

Bataan Province, 319. 

Batan Island, 243. 

Batangas Province, 267, 269, 270. 

Beach, Rex, 80. 

Beitia, Cosme, 446. 

Bell, General, 269, 300. 

Bellamar, caves of, 530,531. 

Benguet, 303, 305. 

Benguet Road, 293, 294, 295-301. 

Beriberi, 247. 

Bering Island, 14. 

Bering Sea, 4, 12, 13, 16, 40, 41, 57, 
70, 101, 103, 134, 141. 

Bering Straits, 3, 4, 29, 41. 

Bering, Vitus, 13, 14. 

Bertolott, Father, 194. 

Betel, 273, 327, 395. 

Bicols, the, 283, 355. 

Bilibid Prison, 335-342. 

Black, Commissioner George, 74, 
76. 

Blanchard, Mr. Bailey, 603. 

Bocas del Toro (city), 465. 

Bocas del Toro (province), 467, 
468. 

Bohios, 542. 

Bohol, island of, 221, 344. 

Bolo, 279, 302, 312, 319, 387, 388, 
389 391. 

Bombon, Lake, 269. 

Bonaparte, Pauline, 619. 

Bongao, 399. 

Boniato Summit, 549, 550. 

Bonnifield, 31. 

Bontoc, capital of Mountain Prov- 
ince of Luzon, 303, 308; char- 
acter of, 308; prison at, 341. 

Bontocs, the, 306-309. 

Borneo, 221, 281, 383, 384, 393, 
394, 397, 399, 400. 

Boundaries of Alaska, 24, 25, 69. 

Bremner, 31. 

Brent, Bishop, 254. 

Brice, Dr. J. W., 435, 436. 

Bristol Bay, 57. 

Broadbelt, Capt. William. 436. 

Brumbaugh, Martin G., 446. 

Bubonic plague, 364, 365, 431, 434- 
435. 

Bubud, 316. 

Bukidnon plateau, 366. 

Bulacan Province, 293, 294. 



Busbus, 387. 

Bureau of Science at Manila, 245- 
248, 280. 

CABANAS, 495, 499. 

Cacao, 460, 467, 495, 580, 585, 587, 
589, 608. 

Caceres, Ramon, 577, 589. 

Cagayan Province, 329, 330. 

Cagayan River, 329, 331, 335. 

Cagayan Valley, 327, 329, 330, 335. 

Caguas, 454. 

"Caimaneros," 528. 

Calesa, 225, 227. 

Calle Colon, oldest street in Phil- 
lippines, 351. 

Camaguey, Dr. Karutz at, 540; 
history of, 540; appearance of, 
540. 

Camineros, 265. 

Campilans, 379. 389. 

Canacao Bay, 284, 286. 

Canadian Gold Mining Co., 74. 

Canao, 316, 317, 325. 

Cape Pillar, 134. 

Cape Prince of Wales, 3, 41. 

Cap Haitien, 614, 616, 618, 619, 
622. 

Capiz, 348. 

Carabao, 227, 230, 233, 234, 258, 
259, 260, 271, 294, 325, 334, 346, 
350, 371, 372, 381. 

Cargadores, 303. 

Caribs. the, 408, 412. 

Carnegie Library, Honolulu, 152- 
153. 

Carpenter Rice Colony, 381. 

Carromata, 226, 227, 286, 287. 

Cascos, 233, 234. 

Casino, the, 444. 

Cattle in Panama Republic, 468; 
in the Dominican Republic, 588. 

Cavite (city), origin of name, 284; 
settlement of, 284; American 
history begins at, 284; popula- 
tion of, 284; location of, 284; 
naval station at, 286; Chinese 
blood in, 287. 

Cavite (province), 222, 284, 292. 

Cayes, see Aux Cayes. 

Cayey. 415, 455. 

Cayman Island, 528. 

Cebu (city), 344, 348, 350; rajah 
of Cebu and Magellan. 351; 
Holy Child of, 351; reminders 
of Spanish days in, 351; old and 
new Cebu, 353; nationalities in, 
353-354; language in, 354; edu- 
cation in, 355-357; nearly de- 
stroyed by fire, water and wind, 
357; water works in, 357; 
leprosy in, 358; climate of, 359; 
sanitary conditions in, 404. 

Cebu (island), 221, 270, 344, 380. 

Ceiba tree, 542, 552, 569. 

Celebes Sea, 368, 375. 

Centenaire, the, 602. 

Cerro Santo, 589. 

Cervantes, 304, 306. 

Chagres River, 478. 

Champ de Mars, 600, 614. 

"Chaparra," the, 536. 

Charleston, the, 216. 



INDEX 



629 



Chia, 200. 

Chinelas, 235, 346, 360. 

Chirikoff, 14. 

Chisna, 31. 

Chistochina, 31. 

"Chit" system, 254. 

Christophe, the Black Napoleon, 
619-622. 

Cibao, 585, 589, 592. 

Cienfuegos, 536. 

Cienfueg-os Bay, 536. 

Circle, 31. 

Claims to Alaska, 16-18. 

Clerks' Club, Havana, 508. 

Cliff Mine, the, 35. 

Club Union, 619. 

Coal in Alaska, 1, 38, 41, 42, 70, 82. 

Coamo Springs, 455. 

Cobre, 552. 

Cock fighting, 256, 287-289, 503, 
504, 546. 

Coconuts, in the Philippine Is- 
lands, 275, 280; in Porto Rico, 
457; in Republic of Panama, 
460; in Cuba, 563. 

Coco palm, 275, 277, 278. 

Coffee, in Porto Rico, 433, 452- 
454; in Panama Republic, 460, 
467; in the Dominican Republic, 
589-591; in Haiti, 607-608, 616. 

Colon, 465, 472, 482, 485. 

Colonos, 536. 

Columbia Club, the, 253, 254. 

Columbus, Christopher, 407, 408, 
410, 439, 500, 522, 552, 563, 569; 
tomb in Santo Domingo, 570- 
572; beholds the valley of La 
Vega Real, 589; builds Isabela, 
594. 

Columbus, Diego, 457, 572. 

Columbus Spring, 408. 

Conserva, the, 600. 

Consuelo estate, 581. 

Controller Bay, 13, 39. 

Cook, Captain James, 16, 17, 188; 
sails from Society Islands to 
Bering Sea, 134; discovers Ha- 
waiian Islands, 141; death of, 
141; monument at Kealakekua 
Bay, 141. 

Cook Inlet, 39. 

Cook Inlet Road, 46. 

Copper River, 100, 111, 113. 

Copper River and Northwestern 
Railroad, 44, 97. 

Copra, 217, 218, 274-275, 277, 279. 

Cordillera, 329. 

Cordova, 42, 44, 97, 100. 

Corregidor, island of, 222. 

Cortez, 545, 570. 

Cotabato District, 369, 376, 377, 
378, 380. 

Cotabato, town of, 369. 

Cotta, 386. 390. 

Crater Lake, 388. 

Creel, Dr. R. H., 434, 435. 

Cristobal, 482. 

Cristobal Colon, 524. 

Cuba, area of, 495; population of, 
495; resources of, 495; imports 
of, 495; exports of, 495; rail- 
roads in, 495, 537, 542; gambling 
in, 503, 504-505, 546; negro up- 



rising in, 503, 563; negro politi- 
cal party in, 503-504; American 
tourists in, 505-507; drunken- 
ness in, 508; intervention in, 
509, 520, 526, 553; Government 
expenditure in, 511; Presiden- 
tial election in, 511-512; base 
ball in, 512; tobacco industry 
in, 512-518; Government roads 
in, 520; typical scenery of, 520- 
522; money in, 522; is given 
title to the Isle of Pines, 526; 
language of, 528, 536; education 
in, 528, 548; Spanish-American 
War in, 533, 542. 562; middle 
class life in, 536-537; American 
fruit growers in, 537, 554; agri- 
culture in, 537-538, 540, 557, 
559-561; Ten Years' War with 
Spain, 546; Marti inspires out- 
break against Spain, 549; war 
declared against Spain, 549; 
bloody years following, 549; 
United States interferes, 549; 
destruction of the Maine, 549; 
United States liberates Cuba, 
549; General Toral surrenders 
at San Juan, 552; sentiment for 
and against annexation, 553; 
American business interests in, 
554-558; a field for sharpers, 
558-559; colonists in, 559-562; 
tax conditions in, 561; trade in, 
563; negroes in, 563-564. 

Cuba (city), see Santiago de 
Cuba. 

Cuba Railway, the, 540-564. 

Cul-de-Sac, the, 608, 610. 

Cul-de-Sac Railroad, 609. 

Culebra Cut, 463, 470, 471, 477, 
478. 

Cumbre, the, 531. 

Cyrus Wakefield, the, 286, 287. 

DAGUPAN, 294, 295, 296, 297. 

Daiquiri, 540, 557. 

Dajo, 386; battle at, 389. 

Damien, Father, 207-208. 

Dansalan, 370, 371, 373. 

Dato Mandi, 382. 

Dato Piang, 376, 378, 381. 

Datos, the, 370, 371, 376-382, 385. 

Davao, 369, 381. 

David, 465. 

Davis, General Geo. W., 410. 

Dawson, 16, 24, 43, 69, 70, 71, 74, 
77, 95, 118, 119. 

Del Cano, 221. 

De Lesseps, Ferdinand, 471. 

De Ojeda, Alonso, 552. 

De Soto, Hernando, 497, 545. 

Dessalines, 596, 600, 619. 

De Veuster, Joseph (see Father 
Damien). 

Dewey, Admiral, 142; sails into 
Manila Bay, 220; skirts prov- 
ince of Cavite, 222; sinks Span- 
ish squadron in Manila Bay, 
284, 286, 291, 386; sinks the 
Velasco 499 

Diamond Head, 147, 171, 181, 182, 
192. 

Dillingham, Commander, 579. 



630 



INDEX 



Diomede Islands, 3. 

Dogs in Alaska, 107, 108; used as 
food by the Igorots, 301, 302, 
303, 307. 

Dominican Republic, the area of, 
566; population of, 566; re- 
sources of, 566, 580; imports of, 
566; exports of, 566, 591; rail- 
roads of, 566, 581, 585, 587, 589, 
592; location of, 566; handling 
of public funds in, 567; appeals 
to United States, 567; United 
States loan to, 568; smuggling 
in, 569; roads in, 572, 588, 589 
types of people in, 572-574 
wireless station in, 574-575 
constitution of, 577; political 
corruption in, 577; administra- 
tion of Heureaux, 577; revolu- 
tions, the "national sport," 
579; revolution of 1904, 579; 
labor in, 582, 584; Indians in, 
584; negroes in, 572, 584; in- 
sects in, 585; amber in the, 592; 
wealth of, 592; duties in, 593; 
President Wilson's policy in, 
593-594. 

Drake, Sir Francis, 136, 572. 

Duncan, Father, 88, 89, 92. 

Durian, 365. 

Dutch Harbor, 41, 101. 

EAGLE, 78. 

Earl King, 602. 

East Cape, Siberia, 2, 3. 

Easter Island, 136, 139. 

Echague, 335. 

El Caney, 550. 

Eldridge, Camp, 261. 

Enriquillo, Lake, 610. 

Esquimaux, origin and habits, 7; 
movement and development of 
the race, 8-12, 14, 18, 27. 

Estenoz, General, 503. 

Esteros, 233. 

Ewa, the, 191. 

Executive Building, Honolulu, 
148-151. 

Exports, of Alaska, 1, 39; of the 
Hawaiian Islands, 130, 188; of 
the Philippine Islands, 211, 274, 
328, 329, 349, 366, 377; of Porto 
Rico, 406, 448, 453, 454, 456; of 
the Republic of Panama, 460; 
of Cuba, 495, 517; of the Domin- 
ican Republic, 566, 581, 591; of 
Haiti, 595, 606, 607, 608, 613. 

FAIRBANKS, gold discovered at, 
31, 46, 68, agricultural experi- 
ment station at-, 64, 66, 82; 
center of placer mining dis- 
trict, 81. 

Fajardo, 428, 452. 

Faura, Father, 245. 

Felton, 557. 

Fernando, Marie Altesa, 294. 

Filipinos, origin of name, 221; 
classes of, 222, 229; part taken 
in government and education 
by, 242, 243; as teachers, 243, 
356; manners and customs of, 



272, 273, 332-335; Christian 
tribes of, 221, 283, 294, 326, 
363; wild tribes of, 221, 
303, 308, 326, 342, 362, 363, 
366-367; American policy in re- 
gard to, 323, 326; language of, 
357 (see language); self-gov- 
ernment for the, 402-405; our 
responsibility to the, 405. 

Fishing, in Alaska, 19; salmon, 
56-58; halibut, 58, 93; herring, 
58; whale, 58-59; value of fish- 
ing industry, 59; in Hawaiian 
Islands, 176, 177. 

Fisherman's Point, 562. 

Flamenco, 484. 

Flecha, 360. 

"Floradora," 348. 

Floral Day and parade, Hawaii, 
173, 174. 

Foraker Act, the, 414. 

Forests, of Alaska, 1; of Philip- 
pine Islands, 211, 377, 378; of 
Cuba, 562; of the Dominican 
Republic, 588. 

Fort Armstrong, 182. 

Fort de Russy, 182. 

Fort Gibbon, 80, 83, 84. 

Fort Kamehameha, 182. 

Fort Ruger, 181. 

Fort San Pedro, 353. 

Fort Shafer, 182. 

Fort William H. Seward, 95. 

Fort Yukon, 17, 41, 78, 79. 

Fox, 31. 

Fram, the, 588. 

Frear, Hon. Walter F., 144. 

Freer, Dr. Paul C, 280. 

Friar Lands, the, 258, 259. 

Frost Road, the, 45. 

Funston, General, 291. 

Fur trading in Alaska, 19, 28 (see 
seals). 

Furlong, 374. 

GAME, in Alaska, 121-126; vari- 
eties of, 121; laws governing, 
121, 122; in Cuba, 539. 

Gangosa, 217. 

Gansas, 317. 

Gatun Dam, 479. 

Gatun Lake, 478, 479, 480. 

Gatun Locks, 478, 480-482, 485. 

General Roofing Company, East 
St. Louis, 435. 

George O. Robinson School, 445. 

Georgeson, C. C, 64, 65. 

Gibraltar, 489, 490. 

Gilheuser, Major, 369. 

Glaciers, the Childs, 100, 111-112, 
113; the Miles, 100, 113; of 
Alaska, 109, 111; story of a 
live glacier, 111-112; as a 
menace to property, 113; The 
Columbia, 114, live and dead 
glaciers contrasted, 114. 

Glass, Captain, 216. 

Goethals, Colonel George W., 460; 
his work on the Panama Canal, 
473, 476, 483, 484. 

Gold, discovered at Dawson, 16, 
24; at Nome, 16, 29-30, 31, 103; 



INDEX 



631 



Gold — continued. 

at other points in Alaska, 31; 
in the Klondike, 69, 71-74. 

Gold Hill, 477. 

Gomez, President, 505. 

Gonaives, 617, 618. 

Good News Bay, 31. 

Gorgas, Colonel William C., 473. 

Grapefruit, 406, 457, 526, 527. 

Great Seal Island Group, 48. 

Greek Catholic Church in Alas- 
ka, 19, 121. 

Greenheart, 588. 

Gua, 542. 

Guajiro, 542. 

Guam, cable station on, 211, 216; 
area of, 215; discovery by Ma- 
gellan, 215; taken by United 
States, 216; government of, 216; 
capital of, 217; control of dis- 
ease in, 217; progress of civili- 
zation in, 217. 

Guana, 591. 

Guanabana, 546. 

Guanica, 456. 

Guantanamo Bay, 554, 562. 

Guayama, 428, 430. 

Guggenheims, the, 37, 44, 47, 74, 
97, 486. 

Guimaras Island, 349. 

HAINES, Indian reservation at, 
95; Fort William H. Seward 
located at, 95; scenery and 
roads surrounding, 95. 

Haiti, Republic of, area, 595 
population, 595, 604; resources 
of, 595; army of, 595, 597-600 
negroes in, 595, 596, 597, 604 
613; exports of, 595, 606, 607 
608, 613; imports of, 595; rail- 
roads, 595, 608, 609, 611, 616- 
617; connection with United 
States Government, 595; slaves 
launch Black Republic, 595-596; 
Presidents of, 595, 599, 604; lan- 
guage of, 600; President Le- 
conte killed and executive man- 
sion destroyed, 600; the Simon 
administration, 600; navy, 595, 
600-603; Americans in, 604-605, 
606; reconstruction of the 
French aqueducts, 605, 609-610; 
cotton in Haiti, 608, 610; mean- 
ing of name, 608; government 
of, by negroes, 613; cabinet- 
wood concession to Americans, 
and results, 616; workmen in, 
617; the Voodoo in, 617; the real 
people of, 619; reign of Christo- 
phe, 619-622; religion in, 622; 
our attitude towards, 623; Ger- 
man cruiser, dispatched to 
Port-au-Prince, 624; relations 
with the Dominican Republic, 
625; buccaneers first settlers of, 
623, 625; United States inter- 
vention inevitable, 625. 

Halcon, Mount, 271. 

Haleakala, 203, 204. 

Halemaumau, 202. 

Hamburg, 489, 490. 



Harrison, Francis Burton, 211, 
244, 245, 404. 

Havana, 499, 530, 537, 543, 545; 
description of, 500-501; Span- 
iards in, 501; transportation in, 
502; population of, 503; "color 
line" in, 503; clubs in, 507; 
Americanization of, 509-511; 
first settlement of, 522. 

Havana Harbor, 495. 

Havemeyer Corporation, 349. 

Hawaii, island of, first inhabit- 
ants of, 136; Kamehameha, the 
Great, born on, 139, 147; area 
of, 199. 

Hawaiian Islands, the, area of, 
130; population of, 130; re- 
sources of, 130; origin of the 
people of, 136; early history and 
settlement of, 136; legendary 
history of first settlement, 136; 
Spanish records of, 137; early 
life and customs in, 138, 139, 
178; Kamehameha, the Great, 
born on, 139; discovery of, by 
Cook, 141; Kamehameha as- 
cends throne of, 141; Kameha- 
meha unites all islands, 141; 
first American missionaries in, 
142; British rule established in, 
142; Hawaiian government re- 
stored, 142; last native king 
dies, 142; effect of Spanish war 
on, 142; annexation of, 142-144; 
present government of, 144; 
number and names of islands, 
147, 211; disintegration of the 
native stock in, 148, 161, 162; 
Honolulu, capital of, 147-156; 
mixture of races in, 157-168; 
suppression of Japanese im- 
migration in, 160; power of 
Asiatic element in, 160; impor- 
tation of foreign labor into, 
163-164; fortifications of, 168; 
sports in, 172, 173, 174, 176; ex- 
tent of tourist travel in, 174- 
175; weather of, 175; language 
of, 179; principal products of, 
188-197. 

Hawaii-loa, 136. 

Head-hunters, 303, 306, 307, 318, 
319, 320, 324-326, 363. 

Hemp industry, 274, 279, 280-283, 
381 

Hidalgos, 591. 

Hilo, 198; population of, 199; 
breakwater at, 199; situation 
of, 199, 200; threatened by vol- 
canic eruption, 202; boarding 
school at, 203. 

Hobson, 565. 

Hong Kong (island and city), 
490, 491. 

Honolulu, capital of Hawaiian 
Islands, 130; population of, 130; 
location of, 141; annexation 
ceremonies at, 142-144; com- 
mercial relations with San 
Francisco and Seattle, 145; 
steamer lines to and from, 145, 
146; appearance of and seen- 



632 



INDEX 



Honolulu — continued. 

ery surrounding, 147; Ameri- 
canization of, 148; business 
progress in, 148; public build- 
ings of, 148-153; homes in, 153; 
gardens of, 156; streets of, 156; 
churches of, 156; Asiatic ele- 
ment in, 157, 158, 168; sanitary 
conditions in, 168; schools in, 
151-152, 168; Kamehameha Day 
in, 169, 170; society in, 173, 186; 
Floral Day and parade in, 173, 
174; aquarium in, 175. 

Honolulu Iron Works, the, 190, 
193. 

Hookworm, driven out of Guam, 
217; dethroned in Porto Rico, 
422, 426, 427, 431, 432-434, 453, 
552. 

Howland Island, 218. 

Hudson Bay, 16. 

Hudson Bay Fur Company, 16, 
18 25 79 

Hula dance, 148, 177, 178. 

Humacao, 428. 435, 437, 452. 

Hunt, Governor William H, 425. 

Hutia, 540. 

ICKIS, Professor, killed by the 
Manobos, 367. 

Iditarod, 31. 

Ifugaos, the, 303; rice gardens of 
the, 309, 310, 311; manners and 
customs of the, 311-318. 

Igorots, the, 299, 301-308. 

Ilagan, 335. 

Ilang-ilang, 346. 

Iligan, 368. 

Ilocanos, the, 332. 

Iloilo, appearance and location 
of, 344; population of, 345; 
statue Jose Rizal, at, 346; trade 
school at, 347; American his- 
tory in, 347; shipping at, 348; 
railroad at, 348; sanitary con- 
ditions in, 404. 

Ilongots, the, 303, 322-324. 

Imports, of Alaska, 1; of the 
Hawaiian Islands, 130; of the 
Philippine Islands, 211, 332, 
380; of Porto Rico, 406, 448-450; 
of the Republic of Panama, 460; 
of Cuba, 495; of the Dominican 
Republic, 566, 593; Haiti, 595, 
605, 606. 

Indians, source, 6, 7; habits, 7, 8; 
history and evolution of, 8-11; 
religious beliefs, 10, 11; fami- 
lies and marriage customs, 12; 
the Shoshone War, 24; the 
Modoc War, 24; treatment by 
United States, 27; 28; Christian 
and Siwash Indians, 86; Father 
Duncan's Indians, 88, 89; law 
against selling liquor to, 103; 
Indian cemetery at Nulato, 109; 
in Porto Rico, 408, 422; upris- 
ing against Spaniards, 409; in 
the Dominican Republic, 584. 

Innoko, 31. 

"Inside" ship passage, 17-18, 97. 

Isabela, first town built by 



Christopher Columbus, 594. 

Isabela Province, 329, 330. 

Isle of Pines, 519, 524, 525; ques- 
tion of title to, 525-526; popu- 
lation of, 526; citrus fruits on, 
526-527; origin of name, 527; 
climate of, 529. 

Iwahig Colony, the, 342-343. 

JACMEL, 611. 

Jai-alai, 504. 

Jajome Alto, 430. 

Jamalul, Kiram II (see Sultan of 
Sulu). 

Japanese Gardens, 156. 

Jaro, 346, 347. 

Jefes, 577. 

Jefferson School, the, 444. 

Jennings, Judge, 95. 

Jibaros, 419, 420-422, 424-427. 

Jinrikisha, 386. 

John Hay, Camp, 300, 373. 

Jolo, 350; principal city of Sulu 
Island, 383; Spanish troops 
leave island of, 386; American 
fortifications of, 386; walled 
Jolo, 387; American rule in, 
388-391; town of Jolo, trade 
center, 398. 

Jones, Bishop William A., 417. 

Jones, Dr., killed by the Ilongots, 
323-324. 

Juneau, capital of Alaska, 1. 58, 
93; first Legislature meets in, 
95, 127; population of, 95; Hon. 
J. F. A. Strong's newspaper in, 
120; his home in, 120. 

Juramentado, 385. 

Jusi, 257, 345, 346. 

KAHANAMOKU, Duke P., 170, 
171. 

Kahoolawe, island of, 147, 210. 

Kalakaua, 142, 151. 

Kalanianaole, Prince Kuhio, 171. 

Kalaniopuu, King, 141. 

Kalaupapa, 207. 

Kalingas, the, 303, 324. 

Kamehameha Day, 16'9. 

Kamehameha, the Great, birth of, 
139; boyhood of, 139; ascends 
throne of Hawaii, 141; achieve- 
ments of, 141, 142; statue of, in 
Honolulu, 142. 

Kamehameha School for Hawai- 
ians, 152. 

Kamehameha II. and III., 142. 

Kanakas, the, 148, 162, 176, 188. 

Kantishna, 31. 

Kapiolani, 201. 

Karutz, Dr. Paul, 540. 

Katalla Road, the, 47. 

Kauai, 141, 147, 209. 

Kawaiahao, Church of, 156. 

Kawit, 284, 288; shell fishing at, 
289-290; home of Aguinaldo at, 
291. 

Kayak, 3. 

Kayak Island, 13. 

Kealakekua Bay, Cook's Moun- 
ment at, 141. 

Keithley, Camp, 369, 373, 374. 



INDEX 



633 



Kenai Peninsula, 35, 121. 

Kennecott, 44, 97. 

Kennecott Bonanza deposit, 37, 

97. 
Ketchikan, 41, 42, 57, 58, 92. 
Kettle Hill, 552. 
Kilauea, 200, 201, 202. 
Killisnoo, 58. 

"King Henry," see Christophe. 
Klondike, The, 69, 70, 71, 92. 
Koa, 138, 172. 
Kobuk, 31. 

Kodiak Island, 16, 64, 65, 101. 
Kona Coast, 199. 
Kopoc, 377. 
Koyokuk, 31. 
Kris, 369, 379, 389, 399. 
Kukui, 197. 
Kuskokwim, 31. 

LACOSTE, 503. 

Ladrones, the, 215. 

La Ferriere, 621. 

La Fuerza, 497. 

Laguna de Bay, 258, 261. 

Lake Bennett, 29. 

La Laguna Province, 275. 

Lanai, 153. 

Lanai, island of, 147, 210. 

Lanao district, 368, 369. 

Lanao, Lake, 369, 370, 373. 

Lane, Franklin K, 126. 

Language, of Hawaii, 179, 210; 
in the Philippines, 222, 283, 339, 
344, 354, 356; in Porto Rico, 
441-443, 445; in Cuba, 528, 536; 
in Haiti, 600. 

L'Arcahaie, 611, 616. 

La Romana, 581. 

Las Pinas, ancient organ at, 285. 

Latouche (city), 100, 101. 

Latouche Bonanza copper de- 
posit, 37. 

Latouche Island, 37, 100. 

La Vega, 588, 589. 

La Vega Real, 589. 

Laysan Island, 211, 212. 

Leclerc, 619. 

Leconte, President, 600. 

Legaspi, 221, 279, 347, 351. 

Leis, 174, 210. 

"Lelis" (see Heureaux). 

Lepanto, 303, 305, 306. 

Leper Colony, at Molokai, 198, 
205-209; on Culion, 358. 

Leprosy, number of cases on 
Molokai, 205; "cold" and other 
cures for, 206; contagious, 207; 
where found, 206, 207; in Guam, 
217; in Cebu, 358; in Porto 
Rico, 431, 436-437; in Haiti, 614. 
Leogane, 608. 

Les Cayes (see Aux Cayes). 
Lewis and Clark expedition, 23, 

25. 
Leyte, 220, 344, 350. 
Liberte, the, 602. 
Liggett, Lieutenant Winfield, Jr., 

562. 
Liliuokalani, proclaimed queen, 
142; deposed, 142; her present 
life, 151. 



Limon Bay, 478. 

Lisianski Island, 211. 

Lorchas, 233. 

Los Banos, 260, 261, 263. 

Los Santos, 465. 

Lottery, 546. 

L'Ouverture, Toussaint, 596, 600. 

Luau, 178. 

Luneta, the, 228, 236, 251, 261. 

Luzon, island of, 220, 221, 267, 

269, 274, 277, 279, 280, 281, L83, 

284, 293, 309, 322, 325, 326, 329, 

344, 347. 
Luzon, Mountain Province of, 301, 

303, 305, 308, 341. 

MACABEBES, THE, 294. 

Machetes, 416, 424. 

Mackenzie, Alexander, 18. 

Mackenzie River, 15. 

Macoris River, 581. 

Mactan, 351, 359, 360. 

Magellan, skirts the eastern 
shore of the Pacific, 132; his- 
tory of, 132-134; his grave in 
Philippines, 134, misses Hawai- 
ian Islands, 136; discovers 
Guam, 215; lands in Philippines, 
221; lands at Cebu, 350; Magel- 
lan and the Rajah of Cebu, 351; 
is killed at Mactan, 351, 353; his 
tomb at Mactan, 360. 

Maibun, 394, 396. 

Maine, The, 542, 549. 

Malabang, 368. 

Malaria, in Porto Rico, 431, 432, 
437; in Panama Republic, 472. 

Malecon, the Havana, 495, 519. 

Malecon Drive, Manila, 224. 

Malolos, 293. 

Manigua, 542. 

Manila, population of, 211, 251; 
location of, 220; appearance 
from harbor, 224; waterfront at, 
224; as a free port, 224, 225; 
birdseye view of, 228; the layer 
cake, 229, 234; Tondo, within 
city limits of, 229-230; the Wal- 
led City, 230, 231, 232, 233; life, 
manners and customs in, 230, 
233-237; history of, 231, 232; 
American work in, 238, 240; Bu- 
reau of Science in, 245, 248, 280; 
schools in, 248; American life 
in, 249-258; clubs, in, 251-254; 
dress in, 254; sports and amuse- 
ments in, 255, 257, 287-289; 
shops in, 257; sanitation in, 404. 

Manila Bay, 220, 258; breakwater 
and docks in, 224; Dewey sinks 
Spanish squadron in, 284, 286, 
291, 386. 

Manila-Dagupan Railroad, 295. 
Manila Hotel (see New Manila 

Hotel). 
Manobos, the, 366-367. 
Marco Polo, 132-134, 221. 
Marcus Island, 218. 
Margarita Point, 485. 
Maria Cristina Falls, 369. 
Marti, Cuban patriot, 549. 
Martin, Charles, 267-268. 



634 



INDEX 



Masbate, island of, 220. 

Matanzas, 530, population of, 533; 
United States battleships bom- 
bard, 533. 

Maui, island of, 147, 198, 203. 

Mauna Kea, 200. 

Manna- Loa, 200, 202. 

Mayaguez, 444, 454, 457. 

Mayaoyao, constabulary post at, 
315. 

Mayon, Mount, 269, 280. 

McCalla Hill, 562. 

McDonald Railroad, the, 611, 614- 
616, 617. 

McGrath, Camp, 270. 

McGraw, ex-Sheriff, 80. 

Menocal, General Mario G.. 495, 
512, 561. 

Merrimac, the, 565. 

Mestizas, 234; costumes of, 235; 
life and customs of, 235, 236; 
346. 

Metlakatla, 87-88. 

Midways, the, 211, 213. 

Miles, General, 407. 

Military Road, the, 452, 454, 455. 

Milot (village), 622. 

Mindanao, island of, 220, 221, 342, 
350; area of, 361; connection 
with neighboring islands, 361; 
character of people, 362; pres- 
ent government of, 363; rats 
and the bubonic plague in, 364- 
365; wild tribes in, 366-391; 
Sultans of, 370, 380. 

Mindanao Macaque, 375. 

Mindanao River, 380. 

Mindoro, island of, 220, 269, 270, 
271, 349, 358. • 

Mining, in Alaska, 31-39; 70-74 
(see gold); quartz mining 33- 

36, 81; iron, 33; copper, 33, 36, 

37, 38; tin, 33, 39; marble, 33; 
gypsum, 33, 39; iron, in Philip- 
pines, 294; copper, in Cuba, 552; 
iron in Cuba, 557. 

Miraflores, 478, 485. 

Misamis, 363, 364, 366. 

Missions, Methodist and Presby- 
terian, in Alaska, 23; at Nulato, 
109; Greek Catholic, 121; mis- 
sion schools at Baguio and Sag- 
ada, 306, 307; in Porto Rico, 
417. 

Missionaries, in Alaska, 19, 23, 
86; in Hawaiian Islands, 141; 
first American missionaries in 
Hawaiian Islands, 142; Oahu 
College founded by, 152; Ka- 
waiahao church built by, 156; 
Hawaiian language written by, 
179; missionary families, 192; 
among lepers, 208, 209. 

Moanalua (see Japanese Gar- 
dens). 

Moca, 589. 

Molokai, island of, 147; leper 
colony at, 198, 205-209. 

Mona Passage, United States re- 
jects annexation of, 583. 

Monte Cristi, 594. 

Montserrate, monastery of, 531. 



Morbard, Mr. S. O., 34. 
Morgan, Henry, 540. 
Morgans, the, 37, 44, 47, 97. 
Moro Province, 363, 368, 369, 382, 

404. 
Moros, the, 342, 350, 362, 363, 

367, 368-392. 
Morro Castle (Havana), 495, 497, 
Morro Castle (Santiago), 545, 

565. 
Mount St. Elias, 13. 
"Mouth of Hell," the, 576. 
Mulchatna, 31. 
"Mules," 482. 
Museum of Polynesian Ethnology 

and Natural History, 152. 

NABESNA River, 38. 

Naos, island of, 484. 

Napoleon, 619. 

Narra, 377. 

Negritos, the, 303, 318-322. 

Negros, island of, 221, 344; divi- 
sions of, 349; sugar industry 
on, 349. 

New Manila Hotel, 224, 227, 236, 
250, 251. 

Niihau, island of, 141, 147, 209, 

Nikolai, Chief, 37. 

Nikolai deposit, 37. 

Nipa, 230, 258, 263. 

Nipe Bay, 554, 557. 

Nizina, 31. 

Nome, 4, 16, 29; first judiciary 
established at, 30; gold dis- 
covered at, 16, 31, 103; build- 
ings at, 104; population of, 104; 
harbor at, 104; pier at, 107; the 
Kennel Club at, 107; dog rac- 
ing at, 107, 108; the Derby at, 
108; Hon. John F. C. Strong's 
newspaper in, 119; legislative 
district of, 128. 

Nome and Seward Peninsula 
Railroad, 46. 

Northwestern Fur Company, 18. 

Nueva Gerona, 525, 527. 

Nueva Vizcaya, 329, 331, 334, 335. 

Nulato, 109. 

Nuuanu Valley, 186. 

OAHU, sighted by Captain Cook, 
141; shape and appearance of, 
147; area of, 147; pronuncia- 
tion of, 179; coveted by many 
nations, 179, 180; fortification 
of, 180-183, 186. 

Oahu College, Honolulu, 151-152, 
168. 

Ohelo berries, 201. 

Olona, 138. 

Olongapo, 286. 

Omaja colony, 559. 

Opium, 400, 491. 

Opon, 360. 

Oriente, the, 545. 

Osmena, Senor, 358. 

"Our Lady of Cobre," 552. 

Overton, Camp, 368, 369. 

Ozama River, 566, 576. 

PAGO PAGO, 219. 



INDEX 



635 



Pagsanjan gorge and falls, 266. 

Palawan, island of, 221; prison 
colony at, 342-343, 358. 

Pali, the, 186, 187. 

Palma, first president of Cuba, 
549. 

Pampanga Province, 294. 

Panama, Bay of, 484. 

Panama Canal, the, length of, 
460, 478; probable cost of, 460; 
number of people employed on, 
460, 474; present condition of, 
460-461; influence of on cities, 
465; Balboa's vision of, 469; 
Spanish canal projects, 470; 
Spanish surveys for, 471; Pater- 
son's attempt, 471; DeLesseps' 
work on, 471; as a free port, 471 
(see Panama Canal Zone); tolls 
on, 483; fortifications of, 484- 
486; effect on trade of, 484; im- 
portance of, 493. 

Panama Canal Zone, area of, 460 
cost of, 460; importance of, 462 
United States buys the, 472 
sanitary measures in, 472-473 
progress in, 484; fortifications 
in, 484-486; as a free port, 487- 
493; possibility of a world me- 
tropolis in, 487, 488, 489. 

Panama City, population of, 460, 
465; buildings in, 467; founda- 
tion of, 470. 

Panama, Isthmus of, 460, 463, 
470, 471, 475, 477. 

Panama Railway, the, 460, 472, 
474, 479, 482, 488. 

Panama, Republic of, area of, 
460, 463; population of, 460, 
464; resources of, 460, 467, 468; 
exports of, 460; imports of, 460; 
a United States dependency, 
462; topography of, 463; 
Panama of today and yes- 
terday compared, 464; army 
disbanded in, 464; government 
of, 465, 468; transportation fa- 
cilities in, 465, 467; North Amer- 
ican achievements in, 466-467; 
financial condition of, 468; task 
of United States in, 469; early 
history of the Isthmus, 470; 
foundation of Republic, and 
treaty with United States, 472. 

Panay, 221, 344, 345, 346, 348. 

Pangasinan Province, 293, 294. 
297. 

Papa,' 13 6. 

Paraiso, 482. 

Pargo, 546. 

Pasig River, 229, 232, 255, 258. 

Paterson, William, 471. 

Patillas, 416. 

Pato de Florida, 505. 

Patti, Adelina, 545. 

Pa'u, Hawaiian riding costume, 
174. 

Paypaya, 367. 

Peace Tree, 552. 

Pearce, Rev. R. E., 445. 

Pearl Harbor, importance of, 179, 
180; naval station and fortifi- 



cations at, 180, 181, 182, 183; de- 
scription of, 183-184; dry dock 
at, 184, 185; referred to, 190, 
192, 562. 

Pearl industry, 396, 398, 460. 

Pedro Miguel, 478, 485. 

Pele, 201, 202. 

Peons (see jibaros). 

Perico, island of, 484. 

Peters Brothers, 610. 

Petersburg, 58; industries of, 93; 
halibut fishing at, 93; popula- 
tion of, 93. 

Petion, 600. 

Petroleum in Alaska, 39. 

Pfeuffer, F. L., 559. 

Philippine Islands, the grave of 
Magellan in, 134; number of, 
211, 220; area of, 211, 221; pop- 
ulation of, 211; religion in, 211, 
221, 352, 362, 383; resources of, 
211; American occupation of, 
220; location of, 221; discovery 
by Chinese, 221; visited by Ma- 
gellan, 221; origin of name, 
261; conquered by Legaspi, 221, 
347; character of people of, 221, 
222; custom duties in, 224, 225, 
257, 405; American accomplish- 
ments in, 238-249, 401-403; gov- 
ernment of, 241, 242, 243; edu- 
cation in, 243, 356, 401; revolt 
against Spaniards in, 261; road 
system in, 263; battle of Man- 
ila, 286; Aguinaldo leads revolt 
against Spain, 291; against 
United States, 291; defeated at 
San Fernando, 291; takes 
oath of allegiance, 291; the con- 
stabulary in, 244, 313-316, 399; 
prison system in, 244, 336-344; 
policy of the present adminis- 
tration in, 244, 402, 404; self- 
government in, 243, 402-405; 
present business conditions in 
the, 403, 405. 

Philippine Scouts, the. 373. 

Pictet, Professor Raoul, 206. 

Pierson, E. C, 559. 

Pilon, 350. 

Pina, 257, 345, 346. 

Pinar del Rio, 514, 519. 

Pineapples, 194; in Porto Rico, 
406, 457; in Cuba, 527. 

Pinkham Lucius E., 144. 

Pizarro, 570. 

Plains Railway Company, 608. 

Plaisance, valley of, 618. 

Plaisance (village), 618. 

Poi, 138, 178. 

Point Barrow, 4. 

Polis Range, 313. 

Polynesia, peopling of, 136. 

Ponce, 428, 452, 455, 456. 

Ponce de Leon, 409, 410. 

Population, of Alaska, 1, 27, 41; of 
the Hawaiian Islands, 130; of 
the Philippine Islands, 211; of 
Porto Rico, 406, 422; of the Re- 
public of Panama, 460; of Cuba, 
495; of the Dominican Republic, 
566; of Haiti, 595. 



6 3 6 



INDEX 



Porras, Belisario, 460, 468. 

Port-au-Prince, population of, 
595; appearance from sea, 596; 
pier at, 596; municipal im- 
provements in, 596, 603; dirt in, 
597; government building's in, 
600; market place at, 603; 
American legation at, 603; shoe 
factory in, 608; transportation 
facilities in, 608. 

Porto Rico, area of, 406, 407; pop- 
ulation of, 406, 422; location of, 
407; appearance of, 407; dis- 
covered by Columbus, 407, 408; 
comes under American flag, 
407, 413, 439; Spanish occupa- 
tion and rule in, 407; natives 
found in, 408; early Indian up- 
rising, 409; extermination of 
natives in, 408, 409, 410; Ponce 
de Leon begins colonization of, 
410; natives given into slavery, 
410; government, under Spain, 
410, 411, 412; buccaneers in, 
412; present government of, 

413, 414, 415; constitution of, 
414; self-government in, 413, 

414, 415; politics in, 415, 417; 
religion in, 416-418; education 
in, 417, 439-447; character, life 
and customs of the people of, 
418-428; results of American 
occupation of, 421, 422, 425, 431- 
439, 454, 459; disease in, 431- 
439; sports in, 446; resources 
and trade in, 448-459; wealth 
of, 458, Government Agency at 
New York, 458; future of, 458- 
459. 

Preston, 554. 

Pribilof Islands, the, 28, 48, 49, 
53, 55. 

"Princessa," the, 379. 

Prince William Sound, 37, 100, 
114. 

Prisons, in the Philippine Is- 
lands, 244, 336-344; in Cuba, 
548. 

Puerto Galera, 271. 

Puerto Plata, 587, 594. 

Puerto Princessa, 343. 

Puerto Principe, 540. 

Punch Bowl, The, 181, 192. 

QUEZON, MANUEL, 404. 
Quiangan, 315. 
Quilez, 344. 

RAILROADS, in Alaska, 32,33,34, 
40-47, 82; government tax on, 
35, 101; Guggenheim and Mor- 
gan railroad, 37-38, 44, 47, 97; 
advantages of government and 
individual ownership contrast- 
ed, 127; in the Hawaiian Is- 
lands, 200; in Porto Rico, 406, 
452; in the Philippine Islands, 
294-295, 326, 348; in the Repub- 
lic of Panama, 467, 471; in 
Cuba, 495, 537, 542, 554, 555; in 
the Dominican Republic, 566, 
581, 585, 587, 589, 592; of Haiti, 



595, 608, 609, 611, 616-617. 

Ramsdell, Ildo, 77, 78. 

Rampart, 31, 64, 66, 80. 

Rattan, 334. 

Reindeer, 114, 117. 

Rezanof, Baron, 21, 22. 

Rice, in Hawaiian Islands, 130, 
195; in Philippine Islands, 211, 
258, 259; rice terraces of the 
Ifugaos, 309-311, 332; Carpenter 
Rice Colony, 381; in Cuba, 539. 

Richardson, Colonel W. P., 30, 
84, 100. 

Rio Grande de Mindanao, 377. 

Rizal, Jose, 237, 260, 261, 345. 

Rizal Province, 293. 

Rizal School, The, 261. 

Robinson, Judge, 445. 

Rochambeau, 596. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 526, 552. 

Rowe, Bishop, 56, 118. 

Royal palms, 519, 576, 587, 591, 
600. 

Ruby, 31, 84. 

Russell & Sturgis, 348. 

Russians in Alaska, 13, 14, 15, 16, 
18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 36. 

Russian-American Trading Com- 
pany, The, 16, 18, 19, 21, 28. 

SAAVEDRA, 469. 

Saetia, 554. 

Sagada, 306, 307. 

Sago palm, 364. 

Salcedo, 409. 

Samana (town), beauty of, 584; 
negro colony at, 584. 

Samana Bay, 582, 583, 589. 

Samana Railroad, the, 587. 

Samar, island of, 220, 344, 350, 
361. 

Samoan Islands, 218, 219. 

Sanchez, 585, 587, 588. 

San Cristobal, 572. 

Sanderson, Mr. Harold, 459. 

Sand Island, cable station on, 
213, 214, 215. 

San Fernando, 291, 294. 

San German, 457. 

Sangley Point, 284, 286. 

San Juan, capital of Porto Rico, 
406, 419; statue of Ponce de 
Leon, at, 409; police headquar- 
ters, at, 415; army stationed in, 
415; business conditions, 421; 
chief commercial center of Por- 
to Rico, 450. 

San Juan Hill, 530, 542, 550; 
Roosevelt's charge up, 552. 

San Pedro de Macoris, 580, 581. 

San Ramon prison, 382. 

San Roque, 286, 288. 

Sans Souci, palace of Christophe, 
619-621, 622. 

Santa Clara (city), 536, 537. 

Santa Clara (province), 535. 

Santa Fe, 527, 528. 

Santiago, 465. 

Santiago Bay, 542, 550; Hobson 
sinks the Merrimac in, 565. 

Santiago de Cuba, 530, 543; ap- 
pearance of, 544, 545; famous 
buildings in, 545; a commercial 



INDEX 



637 



Santiago — continued. 

town, 545; Adelina Patti makes 
debut, in, 545; the crew of the 
Virginius murdered in, 546; lot- 
tery in, 546; fish market in, 
546; city prison in, 548; schools 
in, 548; the cathedral in, 548; 
famous men buried in, 549; bat- 
tlefields around, 552. 

Santiago de los Caballeros, 591. 

Santiago-Puerto Plata Railway, 
589. 

Santo Domingo, population of, 
566; location of, 566; age of, 
566; founded, 569; famous men 
in, 569-570; tomb of Columbus 
in, 570; surrendered by Span- 
iards to French, 572; sacked by 
Sir Francis Drake, 572; recent 
improvements in, 572; ferry 
across the Ozama at, 576; mar- 
ket-place at, 576; hardwoods of, 
588. 

Santurce, 419. 

Sarah, the, 83. 

Saturday Blade, the, 29; its ex- 
pedition up the Yukon, 77-78. 

Saumatre, Lake, 610. 

Savannah land, 559. 

Schofield, General, 180. 

Schofield barracks, 182, 186. 

Schools, in Alaska, 121; in Hono- 
lulu, 152; at Hilo, 203; in Phil- 
ippine Islands, 243, 401; in Ma- 
nila, 248; in Calamba, 261; in 
Los Banos, 261; at Baguio and 
Sagada, 306; at Quiangan, 315; 
in Bilibid Prison, 339; at Iloilo, 
347; at Cebu, 355-357; mission 
schools in Porto Rico, 417, 439- 
447; in the Republic of Panama, 
460, 466, 467; in Cuba, 528, 548; 
at Port-au-Prince, 597. 

Schwatka, Lieutenant Frederick, 
28, 29. 

Scotch Railway, the, 585. 

Scott, Colonel, 388. 

Seals in Alaska, 48-56; destruc- 
tion of, 49, 50; the "skin" cor- 
poration, 50; number left, 50; 
Government regulation of seal 
killing, 51, 53, 55; habits of, 
53-55; value of fur seals, 55. 

Seventeenth of December, the, 
602. 

Seward, 34, 42, 44, 45; effect of 
Government policy on, 101; 
population of, 101. 

Seward, Secretary of State at 
time of Alaska purchase, 26. 

Seward Peninsula, 29, 31, 35, 39. 

Shatter, General, 552. 

Sharks, 176, 398, 399. 

Shells, used for window-panes, 
227, 228, 289-290. 

Shumagin, 58. 

Shushana, the, 31, 97. 
Siasi, 399. 

Simon, President, 600, 616. 
Sinamay, 257. 
Singapore, 489, 491. 
Sisal, 196, 533. 



Sitka, establishment of, 18; de- 
struction and rebuilding, 18; 
Russian capital of Alaska, 18; 
referred to, 19, 26, 27, 64, 95, 96, 
97. 

Skagway, 17, 28, 42, 43, 95; popu- 
lation of, 96; newspaper es- 
tablished in, 118. 

Slavery, in the Philippines, 320- 
322, 350; in Porto Rico, 408, 410; 
in the Dominican Republic, 584. 

Smith, ex - Governor - General 
James, 342. 

Smuggling, in the Philippine Is- 
lands, 399-400; in the Domini- 
can Republic, 569. 

Society Isles, 134. 

Soy beans, 196. 

Spanish-American Iron Company, 
540. 

Sponge industry, the, 522-524. 

Spreckels, Claus, 179. 

Squirrel Creek, 31. 

Stacker, Ruth Wayson, 170. 

Stanford, Admiral, 185. 

Staunton, Father, 306. 

Stellar, Dr., 14. 

Stevens, Judge R. N., 30. 

Stewart, M. L., 336, 341. 

Stikine River, the, 93. 

St. Lawrence, island of 13. 

St. Marc, 608, 616. 

St. Michael, 28, 29, 68, 77, 78; har- 
bor of, 102; bears trained to 
drink beer at, 102-103; breeding 
ground for birds at, 126. 

St. Paul Island, 48, 49, 58. 

Straits of Magellan, 6, 10, 492. 

Straits Settlements, 491. 

Strong, Hon. J. F. A., 118-121. 

Success, the, 436. 

Sugar, in Hawaii, 130, 188-194, 
456; sugar cane brought early 
to Hawaii, 138; sugar industry 
on Negros, 349; methods of 
making sugar, 349, 350; effect of 
Payne tariff on sugar industry, 
350; centrals in Porto Rico, 428, 
456; sugar, in Porto Rico, 456; 
in Cuba, 456, 522, 533-536, 540, 
554, 555-557; in Republic of 
Panama, 460, 467; in the Do- 
minican Republic, 566, 580-581; 
in Haiti, 595, 596, 608, 609. 

Sugar Planters Association, the, 
189, 190. 

Sugbu, 351. 

Sultan of Brunei, the, 393. 

Sultan of Johore, the, 393. 
"Sultan of Sulu, The," George 

Ade, 386. 
Sultan of Sulu, The, 383, 385, 392- 

397. 
Sulu Archipelago, 221, 383; Spain 
establishes protectorate over, 
385, 393, 394; smuggling in the, 
399. 
Sulu Island (see Jolo). 
Sulus, the, 383, 388, 389, 391, 392, 

395, 397-401. 
Sumatra, island of, 134. 
Sumay, 216. 



6 3 8 



INDEX 



Surgidero, 522. 

Surigao, 363. 

Surin, 503. 

Surra, 247. 

Survey of the Pacific Coast, 17. 

TAAL volcano, eruption of, 267- 
270. 

Tabacalera Company, the, 330, 
331. 

Tacotna, 31. 

Taffia, 617. 

Tagabi, 312. 

Tagalogs, the, 221, 235, 346 : 355. 

Tanana, 36, 80. 

Tanana River, 39, 46, 80, 81, 83, 
119. 

Tancrede, President, 624. 

Tao, 262, 328. 

Tarlac Province, 291. 

Taro, 184, 188. 

Tartanilla, 344. 

Tawi-Tawi, 399. 

Thlinkits, the, 19. 

Three Friends, the, 406. 

Tierra del Fuego, 6, 10, 134, 492. 

Timarao, the, 271. 

Tinguians, the, 303, 324. 

Tobacco, in Hawaii, 197; in the 
Philippines, 327-332, 335; in 
Porto Rico, 454-455; in the Re- 
public of Panama, 460, 467; in 
Cuba, 512-518, 522, 533; in the 
Dominican Republic, 566, 580, 
591. 

Tondo (see Manila). 

Tongas, 27. 

Toral, Spanish general, 552. 

Toro Point, 485. 

Torrey Barracks, 375. 

Tortuga, island of, 623. 

Totem poles, 11, 12, 92. 

Treadwell Company, 34. 

Treadwell Mine, the, 34, 95. 

Trinidad Valley, 303. 

Trocha, 542. 

Tuba, 277, 278, 366. 

Tuberculosis in Porto Rico, 432, 
437. 

Tuguegarao, 335. 

Tulay, 387. 

Tutuila, 218. 

Typhoons, 224, 245, 246, 357. 

UMBRIA, the, 602. 

Unalaska, 41. 

Unalaska Island, 101. 

Unga Island, 35. 

United Fruit Company, the, 465, 

467, 468. 
University of the Philippines, 

248, 261. 
Urdaneta, the priest, 221. 

VALDEZ, 100, 114, 128. 
Valdez Creek, 31. 
Valdez district, 35. 
Vancouver, George, 17. 
Vedado, 519. 
Vega, the, 585, 587. 
Velasco, 499. 



Velasquez, Diego, 548, 

Vergne, 'Dr. R. C, 437. 

Vicars, Camp, 369, 374. 

Vintas, 400. 

Virginius, the, 546. 

Visayan Islands, the, 344-361, 364. 

Volanta, 530, 531. 

Volcanoes, 198-205. 

Volcano House, 200, 201. 

Voodoo, the, 617-618. 

Vuelta Abajo, 497, 514-515. 

WAIKIKI, suburb of Honolulu, 
171; surf riding at, 171-172; 
canoe-surfing at, 172; The Out- 
rigger Club at, 172; The Moun- 
tain Club, at, 172. 

Wakea, legendary founder of 
Hawaiian Islands, 136. 

Wake Island, 218. 

Walled City, the (see under Ma- 
nila). 

Wandering Minstrel, the, 214. 

Water buffaloes, 195 (see cara- 
bao). 

Wauke tree, the, 138. 

Wells-Fargo express office in 
Alaska, 79. 

"White Channel," the, 72. 

White, Commander, .603. 

White Horse, 43, 70. 

White Horse Rapids, 70. 

White Pass, 69, 95, 118. 

White Pass and Yukon Railway, 
43, 69, 96. 

White Pass Route, 28, 29. 

White River, 38. 

Whitman, Marcus, 23. 

Whitney, Lieutenant, 391. 

Willow Creek, 31, 35. 

Wood, General Leonard, 386, 550, 
562. 

Woodford, 557. 

"Wood's Folly," 550. 

Wrangell, 27; a "wide open 
town," 92; population of, 92; 
resources of, 93. 

YAGER, ARTHUR, 406. 

Yakataga, 31. 

Yakutat Road, The, 46. 

Yauco, 456. 

Yellow fever, in Porto Rico, 431; 

in Republic of Panama, 472. 
Yentna, 31. 
Y. M. C. A. Building in Honolulu, 

153; in Manila, 290. 
Yuca, 539. 

Yukon Gold Company, 74. 
Yukon River, 28, 39, 40, 43, 70, 78, 

80, 81, 84, 86, 109, 119. 
Yukon Territory, 24, 29, 43, 69, 74. 

76, 77, 95. 
Yukon Valley, 2, 40. 
Yumuri Valley, 530, 531. 
Yvonet, General, 503. 

ZAMBOANGA DISTRICT, prison 

in, 342, 369, 382. 
Zamboanga (city), 382, 386, 387. 
Zamor, General Orestes, 595, 625. 



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SOUTH AMERICA 

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San Francisco Call — Recommended for the exceptional full- 
ness and interest of its pictorial contents. 

Evening Star (Wash., D. C.) — A wonderfully interesting, his- 
torically accurate, splendidly pictured and narratively delightful 
book. 

South American (Caracas, Venezuela) — A truthful portrayal of 
first impressions. 

Herald — Buenos Aires (Argentina) — A timely, interesting and 
valuable treatise. 



UNITED STATES 
COLONIES 

AND 

DEPENDENCIES 

By W. D. BOYCE. 

Mr. Boyce, for his papers, personally visited all the Colonies 
of the United States, and wrote Travel Articles that were 
more popular, when printed in serial form, than his South 
American Stories. Possibly this was because they were about 
countries under our flag. He felt his work would not be 
complete unless he included the Dependencies of the United 
States. He returned to Cuba, after some years' absence, but 
did not have the time to visit the Dominican Republic or Haiti, 
but had the work done for him by competent employes. He 
does not seek to take more than the credit of carefully editing 
the copy and subject treated on these two Dependencies. The 
success attained in producing "Illustrated South America" led 
Rand, McNally & Co. to take the publication of the "United 
States Colonies and Dependencies," also. The first edition is 
ten thousand copies ; retail price $2.50. If it is as good a seller 
as "Illustrated South America" other editions will be printed. 



Four Separate Books Containing the Same Matter as 

"United States Colonies and Dependencies" are 

Printed by the Same Publishers, at $1.25 Each. 

"Alaska and Panama," One Volume. 

"Hawaii and Porto Rico," One Volume. 
"The Philippines," One Volume. 

"United States Dependencies," One Volume. 



W. D. BOYCE CO. 

(Established 1886) 

PUBLISHER CHICAGO 



THE SATURDAY BLADE 

is twenty-seven years old and never missed an issue. It is a 
big newspaper, full of the big things that happen. Special 
attention is paid to news that continues from week to week, and 
new inventions and discoveries. At all times it has an expedi- 
tion in some part of the world for new and curious descriptive 
articles and photographs. The Saturday Blade is illustrated 
in colors. 

THE CHICAGO LEDGER 

is forty-two years old and has never missed an issue. It is a 
periodical with special articles and departments. The fiction 
stories are all written to order, usually topical, and with a moral 
that helps to shape public opinion in favor of Justice, Right and 
the Nobility of Labor. It is handsomely illustrated in colors. 

THE FARMING BUSINESS 

(Established in 1872) 
"Business" — is the occupation in which a person is engaged. 
Six million heads of families are engaged in the farming busi- 
ness, and about 1,000,000 are readers of the only paper pub- 
lished that helps in every way the farmer to get more money 
out of his business while it entertains and instructs every 
member of his family. The advertising columns of THE 
FARMING BUSINESS are clean and will be kept clean. 
The whole editorial policy is one of construction, not 
destruction. 

INDIANA DAILY TIMES, 

INDIANAPOLIS, IND., 

is owned by W. D. Boyce Co. It is a popular afternoon Inde- 
pendent Daily of over 60,000 copies daily and rapidly growing. 
Circulation doubled in past two years. The motto the Daily 
Times lives up to is : "A square deal and fair play for every- 
body." 

Total Annual Circulation of the Four Publications 

Ninety-one Million Five Hundred and 
Eighty-one Thousand 




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THE WORLD 

showing the 

UNITED STATES 

and its 

Outlying Possessions 



Copyright, iqocj, by Rand, McA'allv &• Company. 






